
Loading summary
Fraser
It is so nice to entertain in the summertime. I just did it this past weekend. I had a big party over here on my deck and it's a big deck and it was all furnished by Wayfair.
Ben Mandelker
Yeah, I just bought some acapulco chairs for my patio and they are so cool. They were so easy to assemble and also so comfy. They arrived quickly and like they look great out there.
Fraser
If you're having a backyard get together, Wayfair is your one stop shop for outdoor entertaining.
Ben Mandelker
Cookout shop patio tables, grills and dishware. Pool party. Kick back with lounge chairs, daybeds, umbrellas, game night. Wayfair's got cornhole, croquet string lights to set the scene. I mean it really goes on and on.
Fraser
Ronnie Wayfair's huge selection of outdoor items makes it easy to find exactly what's right for you. And the best part to me was that I got to pick it out and then I got to have someone come put it all together as well.
Ben Mandelker
I love that. Get big stuff like patio sets, gazebos, hot tubs, outdoor dining sets and more shipped for free.
Fraser
Shop outdoor furniture, grills, lawn games, and way more for way less. Head to Wayfair.com to explore a huge.
Ben Mandelker
Outdoor selection that's W A Y-F A I R.com Wayfair Every style, every Home Taking control of your health and feeling confident in your body shouldn't feel overwhelming. But let's be real, it often does. That's where hers comes in. They've made the process simple, supportive and entirely online so you can start strong, stay strong from wherever you are.
Fraser
Hers is transforming women's health care by providing access to affordable weight loss treatment plans. They connect you with a medical provider who will work with you to determine determine the best treatment option for you.
Ben Mandelker
If prescribed, you get medication as part of a doctor developed weight loss program complete with ongoing care check ins, dosage and medication adjustments and 247 online support at no additional cost, no hidden fees and no membership fees. Start your free online Visit today at.
Fraser
Fourhers.Com crappins that's F-O-R-H-E-R-S.com crappins for your personalized weight loss treatment options.
Ben Mandelker
For hers.com crappens weight loss by hers is not available everywhere. Compounded products are not approved or reviewed for safety effectiveness or quality by the fda. Prescription required. See website for full details, important safety information and restrictions. Actual price depends on product and plan purchased.
Fraser
The pace of life is faster than ever and if you keep meaning to Check out your favorite author's latest title, but you can't seem to find the time. Audible is the perfect solution for you.
Ben Mandelker
Audible has an incredible selection with over 1 million audiobooks and audible originals all in one easy app.
Fraser
And you can listen to captivating, immersive stories on Audible while you're doing the stuff you have to do, like household chores, commuting, grocery runs.
Ben Mandelker
Audible makes it easy to be inspired and entertained as part of your everyday routine without needing to set aside extra time.
Fraser
I am listening to the title Dungeon Crawler Carl, which is actually insane. And I read all the series, but I loved it so much that now I'm listening to it as I drive around and it's just. It's so cool listening to it because the guy does so many funny characters. I'm just loving it. I've always loved Audible and this is just like listening to a play in my car. I love it. There's more to imagine when you listen.
Ben Mandelker
Go to audible.com crappin and sign up for a free 30 day trial. That's audible.com.
Ash Kelly
Watch what happen.
Ben Mandelker
Watch what crapp. Who cares what happens when there's so much that happens? Hello and welcome to Watch what Crappens, a podcast about all that crap on Bravo that we just love to talk about. I'm Ben Mandelker. Today we are talking below deck. Ronnie is still out having the time of his life and in his place. This is the first time this has ever happened. I have two people that are in Ronnie's place. One of them is alive and one of them, if I can tell, looks to be dead. I think we actually have a dead body because we have the two hosts of literally the biggest podcast, I think, in the world, if not the biggest, like maybe number five. I don't know, but like, it's insane. The host of Morbid, It's Ash Kelly and Elena Urquhart. Hi. Welcome to the show.
Ash Kelly
Hello. It's nice.
Ben Mandelker
Welcome back. Hi. It's great to see you.
Ash Kelly
Yeah, it's.
Ben Mandelker
So here's why I said this thing about the dead body thing, because if you're watching with Crap is on Demand, which you can watch with patreon.com watch what crappens. Ash, you. You look like you've been. You look like you are dead and exhumed. Tell us about why you have this leak going on today. You have a bloody. You have bloody gash on your neck, on your mouth and on your forehead. Yeah.
Ash Kelly
I have gone through a lot today. It's been a long day. We had to record one of our listener tales, which you can also find on YouTube. Yeah, I don't really know what you type in. Maybe morbid and YouTube. I don't know. We're not good at that. Yeah. But we always costume, and I had to take a quick phone call afterwards. We did a dead bride theme today. Or a bride theme. You were a living bride. Yeah, I was a living bread. That's why she doesn't look so. But I went full dead bride, and then I had to take a quick phone call, and then I was like, oh, shit, we got to hop on with Ben. So here I am, dead.
Ben Mandelker
This is. I mean, this is. I. I cannot tell you the. The amount of delight that I'm getting from just looking at you as a dead bride right now. On with Crap is On Demand. And we're here to talk about below deck, of all things.
Ash Kelly
It feels right.
Ben Mandelker
It does feel right. Well, by the way, I just want to say that if you are not listening to Morbid, you should start listening to Morbid because it's a great podcast. Ryan and I have been privileged to be guests on it once or twice. And we love you too. Every time we go to Boston, we always make sure that we have a little Kiki at some point because we just have the best time. So everyone go and support Ash and Elena because you guys are truly the best, whether you're dead or alive.
Ash Kelly
So thank you. We love you guys. We love you guys.
Ben Mandelker
We love you guys in that video. He's so funny. We love you guys. So first and foremost, we are talking below deck today. Have you guys been. You guys. You guys are below deck watchers generally. But Ash, you were saying before we started that you had started the season, but you'd fallen off a little bit. Tell me what happened. How do you. What caused the fall off?
Ash Kelly
Yeah, my husband and I watch almost every season of Below Deck. But I was saying to Elena this morning, with the amount of below deck franchises that there are now, like, below deck, down under, below deck, sailing yacht, below deck, Mediterranean. Sometimes you just get a little below decked out. But, yeah, fatigue. But I started watching this season. I watched, like, maybe the first two or three episodes, and it was just so chaotic. I was like, you know what? I'm taking a below deck break.
Ben Mandelker
It has been chaotic. I have to say, when the season began, I was like, oh, damn, this is a good season because there was so many crazy characters on it and it was chaotic in a way that I really liked. But some of that chaos has actually Worn down on me, like. Or worn me down because I'm like, I'm getting a little sick of this new thing that whenever anyone, like, shares a bit of their life, they, like, stop the whole show and they bring up this wall of photos, and then they talk for, like, 15 seconds. And it's, like, not even the talking for 15 seconds that bothers me, because that's what they would always. I don't know why we have to, like, halt the whole show to be like, wait, so Lane is talking now? I'm like, can we just, like, can we just keep it moving? Do we have to have, like, these. These halts? But also, the show has been preoccupied with the ongoing romances of first Elaine and Kyle, and now it's Elaine and Jess and Celine and Jess and Kyle. And I have to say, I really don't care. I really don't care about romances on Below Deck. And it's, like, very hard for me right now because I'm trying to be a positive person. I love me some Below Deck, but there's just too much of this. This love triangle happening for me right now. I don't know. I don't know how it felt for you coming back into it, but, you know, I feel like I've been dealing with this for, like, 10 weeks at this point, even though it's only been, like, two or three. It's too much. Too much for me. I want to see them working.
Ash Kelly
It's a lot. There's too much happening because I. I was, like, in. On the season. I'm. I don't know what season it is, but it was with Rocky, the one with.
Ben Mandelker
Yeah, that was season three when she came in.
Ash Kelly
Yeah, I loved that one because that was, like, singularly focused. Like, what was going on with Rocky? There was one drama. Really. Yeah, there was one drama that you kind of just like, okay, that's fun. This is just, like, so many people involved that I'm like, I don't even know what's going on right now. Like, at one point, I was like, is this the same person? Who is that? Yeah, there's also a lot of people, and everybody's messing with each other, so it's like, no.
Ben Mandelker
Yeah. I almost need the show to take, like, a beat. Like, maybe, like, we can, like, if there's a lot of stuff happening on board, Like, I would actually almost prefer a charter to last, like, three episodes, and we can, like, kind of, like, breathe a little bit. But it's. It's like one thing after another. It's like, super fast and. And it is chaotic and, like. And this time that it does slow down is for this love triangle that I'm like, I've had enough. The love triangle. I tune into below deck to watch people work and then also up at their job and watch other people have to pick up the slack and then complain about it, which we definitely got in this episode. But I'm like, if there's, like, a boatmance between a decky and. And like, a third stew, it's, like, really, like, it's not. I don't want it to be centered. It can be little side thing that happens when the charter's over, you know? Yeah, it's. It's hard. Life is hard for us, I think.
Ash Kelly
It's really difficult to get through. And you know what? I don't like the Instagram wall either. No, I don't either. I was surprised by that when that happened. I'm like, why are we on Instagram?
Ben Mandelker
I know. Like, I don't mind the new big, flashy f. That's okay. And then they occasionally have, like, they'll, like, for some reason, to make it seem sexier. Like, when Chef Anthony is, like, adding, like, an ice cube to a glass. I'll, like, watch. Watch the ice cube tumble in, like, in slow mo. It's like, okay, sure. Slow motion ice cube. It's a sexy yacht where things go in slow motion. That's fine. But the Instagram wall, for some reason, like, that is the tweak this season that has broken my back. Like, that is the straw that broke my. I am the camel, and my camel back is broken because I can't. I can't wall.
Ash Kelly
Completely agree. Because then it takes away from the sexy ice cube. Yeah. I want my sex.
Ben Mandelker
It actually really does.
Ash Kelly
I was like, this isn't sexy ice cube. Yes.
Ben Mandelker
It's like, you may be thinking you're looking at a sexy ice cube, but now we're gonna look at someone's random Instagram wall and not even long enough that we can leer at all the photos. It's just. No, it really just sort of, like, stops the scene. Like, the scene just halts and, like, oh, okay, we're gonna have to hear about someone's life. And then. And then. I don't know. I think that we could. It could just. It should march forward like every other below deck has always done. So.
Ash Kelly
Yeah, agreed.
Ben Mandelker
That being. Wow. Really, really started for this episode from a. From a place of no. But I do love below deck. Want to remind everyone I Do love this show. So why don't we dive into. Oh, my goodness. You know what's so funny? I downloaded the Real Housewives of Orange county notes. So imagine. Okay, so the episode opens up with Shador playing with her.
Ash Kelly
I'm still.
Ben Mandelker
Wait a second. Shannon Bedor is not Shannon.
Ash Kelly
I'm so in for Shannon Bedor X Below deck.
Ben Mandelker
I'm surprised she hasn't been. I feel like if Shannon on below deck, she would be hilarious. She'd be like. Well, first, before we leave, this is this. Is this pillow hypoallergenic? Because if we're in the high seas and I have a sneezing attack, it's going to be difficult for everyone.
Ash Kelly
Incredible picture. Archie on the high seas.
Ben Mandelker
Archie would be having the time of his life. In fact, I bet Archie loves the Instagram wall. I bet every time he sees the Instagram wall, his tail wags. Archie, that is not a tennis ball. Archie's very. Archie has a friend now too, right? Archie has a brother. Didn't Shannon adopt another dog?
Ash Kelly
I forget the name, but yeah, she did.
Ben Mandelker
Well, happy for Archie. I meant Archie deserves a friend. After Archie was blamed for her dui, let's not forget. Well, I was just out walking the dog. He was very stimulated after watching Blow Deck and so I was walking him at 2 in the morning. And that's why. And that's why I have a bloody face.
Ash Kelly
Yeah. There's no reason that that car is wrecked over there. Poor Archie. No justice for Archie.
Ben Mandelker
Truly justice for Archie. Okay, let's get into the episode. I have the proper notes up now. It is no longer the Real house House of Orange county notes. So previously. So Celine and Kyle, we see previously they've hooked up, but then Slain made out with just the club. And then we also see we have a new bosun, by the way. So Kyle is gone. Thank God. He was terrible. I don't. I don't think you guys saw Kai. I guess Ash, you saw a little.
Ash Kelly
Bit of Caio, but I saw a little bit. He seemed like he didn't really know how to manage a crew.
Ben Mandelker
He was. It was. I felt like he. His skill set. Like he would have been a good manager at like a Starbucks.
Ash Kelly
Yeah.
Ben Mandelker
I don't think like a super yacht was like really where he shown, you know.
Ash Kelly
Yeah. Which, you know, kind of required for this fine line.
Ben Mandelker
You know, it's a. It's a fine line between Starbucks and Super dad, but it's a line that must be respected. But we do have Hugo. So Hugo came on last Week. And so Hugo is actually like a perfectly capable. He's like a good boson. He's also very handsome, I'd like to add. So Hugo, he's got like a.
Ash Kelly
He's got like the dark hair. Oh, yep, yep.
Ben Mandelker
Dark hair, big smile, open relationship.
Ash Kelly
Yeah. Messy.
Ben Mandelker
So the big thing from. From last week is that the guest. We have a set of totally obnoxious, terrible guests. They all run strip clubs, which doesn't make you obnoxious. That's just, you know, I'm just telling you a little bit about their history. Giving some texture. Yeah, they were. They were terrible. So they're on board and one of their requests is that they want to have a. Like a concert on the dock.
Ash Kelly
You know, just a casual request. Very casual.
Ben Mandelker
I mean, why are you even on the yacht if you want to have a big concert?
Ash Kelly
Yeah.
Ben Mandelker
At that point, get a hotel room.
Ash Kelly
Yeah.
Ben Mandelker
How about this? Go to a concert.
Ash Kelly
Don't make requests on land when you're on yacht.
Ben Mandelker
No, thank you. I think a picnic is allowed. You can make a picnic request, like actually doing a setup, a concert setup at this point, like just. Just throw yourself down, you know, a set of staircases. Not even a set of stairs. A set of staircases.
Ash Kelly
Yeah.
Ben Mandelker
This is multiple flights.
Ash Kelly
Don't stop at that first one. Keep rolling.
Ben Mandelker
So. So now Fraser has, you know, last episode he checked in with, he. It was hard for him to find an event planner. He finally found one. The guy is like, I'll have it all ready on Sunday. And where we left off on the last episode is that Fraser went to the doc to do a walkthrough with Captain Carrie. Nothing was set up. And. Yeah. And it's like, is this concert gonna happen or. Yeah, I know. Fraser looked very harried by it and I was, you know. Yeah. Did you think the concert was gonna happen or did you think, like, okay, Bravo is just fucking with him. They're keeping everything around the corner and then, like, they're gonna make it come last minute to make it seem dramatic.
Ash Kelly
The latter ladder.
Ben Mandelker
Yeah.
Ash Kelly
Yeah. I was worried for free. You were worried? Yeah, I was worried. These things always have a way of working themselves out, especially when the episode ends that way. And then you're carrying up next week, carrying on. You're like, oh, it'll be fine. They're just leading you in.
Ben Mandelker
Yeah, yeah. And the thing is, the reason why I knew it would work out, because if it. If it wasn't going to work out for the concert, if it was like seven o', clock and there was nothing set up. That would have been the cliffhanger, I think the walk through.
Ash Kelly
Yeah, exactly. Good call.
Ben Mandelker
Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. I'm an official below deckologist at this point.
Ash Kelly
Like, I've been doing this for a while. I'm a professional.
Ben Mandelker
I know when the cliffhangers are going to happen. So the event planner is like, yeah, everything's good. Everything. And you know, and Carrie's like, well, we've got a lot of really demanding guests. So we've got a lot of pressure on us right now. And if there's no activity, we're going to feel the heat in the event planners.
Ash Kelly
That was direct audio ripped.
Ben Mandelker
That was him. Please welcome our third guest.
Ash Kelly
He's alive. I also love him. I love Captain Carrie. Yeah, I really like him. He's awesome.
Ben Mandelker
I love him. He is great. He is. He seems like, really capable. I like that. He. He seems like, very warm towards his staff, but also rules with an iron fist. Like, he will, like, you don't want to mess with him at all.
Ash Kelly
No.
Ben Mandelker
But if you stay on his good side, he's going to treat you with like, respect. He's probably one of those people who puts both hands on his chest and then fans them out and goes all, I give what I get. Give me respect. Give it back. Probably does that a lot.
Ash Kelly
So niche, but so real. You know, his essence. Yeah.
Ben Mandelker
My specialty is Captain Carrie demanding respect impersonation.
Ash Kelly
I feel like of all the captains, he's got the closest energy to Captain Lee.
Ben Mandelker
Absolutely.
Ash Kelly
I like Captain.
Ben Mandelker
I think he's a really. He's like a really excellent. Whatever the word would be to say the next one. There's like. There's a nice word for that, right? It's not predecessor, because that's the prior one. The predecessor is the. Is before capital. What's the next one after?
Ash Kelly
Successor.
Ben Mandelker
Successor. There you go, guys, we're killing it.
Ash Kelly
Look at us. We know things vocabulary.
Ben Mandelker
When you use successor with me or use it back with you.
Ash Kelly
Hands for.
Ben Mandelker
Me, he does that a lot. It's almost like he's trying to show like his ideal breast size. So he's like, let me cup around and forward. Show me respect and I'll make a booby. Give me respect, I'll give it back to you. So they're the guys. Basically the event planner is like, yeah, that's fine. Like, we'll get this all set. It's gonna be great. And you know, Carrie's like, oh, we just wanna make sure we just dot out our eyes and cross Our T's, we've got a demanding guess here. And you know, as they say, when you're making a concert, I give what I pulled out. Right. So what I'm getting back is what I was like, yes, Gary. So Fraser is saying that they're going to be bringing carnival. We're bringing carnival to the dock for these guests. And a dock party is nothing without people. So I've asked the marina to invite their friends and family to join. But there's so much to do when you still need staging and DJs and bands and stilt walkers and Kleenex tissues and Reese's Pieces peanut butter cups and things like that. It's the most stressful day of my life.
Ash Kelly
He looks like he's going through it. Every single day is the most stressful day of Fraser's life, I believe.
Ben Mandelker
I know.
Ash Kelly
Yeah, I know.
Ben Mandelker
I'm sort of wonder, like, this is a demanding job. Is he maybe not like. Is he not, like, managing his time properly? He's stressed all the time.
Ash Kelly
He's very. I can't say that I wouldn't be stressed doing this. Like, I could not do. I would be Frasering fully would not be able to do this. Yeah. Because I also would have never been able to be kind to these guests at all. Yeah, I just like, well, that's it for me. Bye, everybody. Yeah, but he was haunted.
Ben Mandelker
Like, haunted is a great week. He's seen things. He saw an apparition out on the seas and it's like. I think that's why he's not good with his time management, is because he's distracted by the fact that he saw, like a dead sailor floating over the waves.
Ash Kelly
Yeah. He has seen a salty old sea captain that doesn't leave you. That will stay with you forever.
Ben Mandelker
He saw. He saw a sealy. Do you know what a sealy is?
Ash Kelly
I don't think I do.
Ben Mandelker
I just. This has stuck with me because in fourth grade my teacher read us this book about, like, it took place in, like, the. The one of those islands north of Scotland. Not the Faroe Islands, it's like the Shetland Islands.
Ash Kelly
Oh, yeah.
Ben Mandelker
It was about. It was about seelies and it was like these. It's kind of like this. It was like a. A much less intriguing version of a mermaid. It's like people who are like half seal, half human, and then they, like, come on to the land and they're like, mystical but dangerous and.
Ash Kelly
No, I'm not about that. That's awful. Yeah.
Ben Mandelker
It's also possible that I'm saying complete bullshit right now because I'm drawing upon knowledge I learned from when I was a fourth grader.
Ash Kelly
As soon as you said it, I was like, it, like hit a nerve somewhere. It sounded legit enough to scare the out of me, and now I see it in my mind's eye. So I'm scared and I don't want you. I feel like. Yeah.
Ben Mandelker
Well, I tried to do a search, and this is what I did, a search. I said Sealy Shetland Islands, and AI Google. AI said, you're asking about a mattress named after the Shetland Islands. Here's what you need to know about.
Ash Kelly
That said not Haunted by a mattress series.
Ben Mandelker
Guys, did you know about the Sealy mattresses? They're horrifying. They will scare the shit out of you. But by the way, is the Sealy mattress really named after the Sealy?
Ash Kelly
It's a selfie.
Ben Mandelker
Okay.
Ash Kelly
Isn't that a dress brand? Oh, wait, it can be both.
Ben Mandelker
I really need to get to the bottom of these. Half seal, half mattresses.
Ash Kelly
Dress brands to half seal people. Happening.
Ben Mandelker
Have you. Have you guys heard of the mythical cryptid known as the Serta? Watch out. It's gonna come for you. I mean, Casper is a friendly ghost, so, I mean, there's a.
Ash Kelly
We're on something here. You have options of your haunt.
Ben Mandelker
Okay, so I have no idea what I'm talking about, clearly, because I have no idea what sort of like, folklore I've, like, scrambled up in my brain that I've tried to inserted this podcast. But, like, I'm pretty sure there's some sort of half seal creature that haunts the Shetland Islands, and I just don't. Maybe it's not a Seelie. Maybe it's something else.
Ash Kelly
All we know is that Freezer has seen it and it has never been the same.
Ben Mandelker
Yes.
Ash Kelly
Both versions of it.
Ben Mandelker
Oh, it is Selkie. You're right. It is Selkie. Not Seelie. Okay. Yeah. A mythological creature from Scottish and Irish folklore capable of transforming between seal and human by shedding or donning their seal skin. Oh, so they just have a pile of skin somewhere?
Ash Kelly
Oh, yeah. Now I know what to dress up. As for our next listener, he stumbled upon the pile of skin.
Ben Mandelker
That's what I think he did. He's like, what am I? Why did no one clean this up? So, Lane, there's a pile of seal skin on the. In the salon. Please clean that up right away.
Ash Kelly
She says, I don't know what you're saying.
Ben Mandelker
Going forward, when we clean up our seal skin, we always fold it afterwards always. So, yes, he's seen seal skin, and he's haunted. And now he has to. With a vision of seal skin in his mind, he has to put on a. Some sort of carnival on the dock that all the dock workers are going to come to and dance at. Dance around people. These people live there. I mean, these people know what a good carnival party is. They're like, I don't want to go to the dock. I don't want to go to Aunt Maureen's dock to go to the carnival. No.
Ash Kelly
Who wants that for.
Ben Mandelker
For a bunch of Americans on a boat? No, thank you. I want to go to my own. Yeah. Yeah. For Dawn. Dawn the Cackler.
Ash Kelly
I'll remember dawn for the rest of my days.
Ben Mandelker
Good Lord.
Ash Kelly
Anywhere for Dawn, I'd throw her over.
Ben Mandelker
How many bars in Arizona has she terrorized? You know that, like, you go. You go to a bar in Phoenix, and Donna's there.
Ash Kelly
Be like, hey, shots. Get this person a shot there in my bar.
Ben Mandelker
I don't even know if she's from Phoenix.
Ash Kelly
A Walgreens. Like, she's banned. She's banned from a lot of places. She's banned. Yeah.
Ben Mandelker
Even the selkies don't want her. They're like, no, we don't want you in seal form either.
Ash Kelly
You're too cursed. You're more cursed than we are.
Ben Mandelker
We're cursed enough, Dawn. We don't need adding Don into our mix. They're like, you know what? Actually, we decide we're just gonna stay at the seals.
Ash Kelly
She.
Ben Mandelker
She ends selkies once and for all.
Ash Kelly
That's how we got.
Ben Mandelker
Dawn came around. They're like, hey, you guys want to be humans right now? I got some. I got some schlits that we can party with. Like, sorry, we're seals now.
Ash Kelly
We don't you want to be humans, right?
Ben Mandelker
Because the edge of the water. Hey, hey, seals, you want to party?
Ash Kelly
They're like, absolutely not. D. Like, never.
Ben Mandelker
Never.
Ash Kelly
You're banned from the.
Ben Mandelker
Ever again. They're like, we see there's some orcas over there. We're gonna go see if we can hang out with them.
Ash Kelly
Maybe Don should go hang out with them.
Ben Mandelker
Honestly, Don would be an orca. You know, Don would be like. Like those guys in Dune. The Fremen who can ride the sand worms should be doing that with orcas. You, like, feed her to an orca and. And she winds up riding it. You're like, God damn it, Dawn. Somehow she. She survives. Orca writer. Oh, God.
Fraser
It's time for a Commercial. It's time for a crappin's commercial.
Ben Mandelker
I'm not into chasing trends, but I am all about stuff that fits right, feels good and actually lasts. That's why I keep coming back to quints. Their lightweight layers and high quality staples have become my everyday essentials.
Fraser
Quince has the kind of stuff you'll actually wear on repeat. Like breathable flow knit polos, crisp cotton shirts and comfortable lightweight pants that somehow work for both weekend hangs and dressed up dinners.
Ben Mandelker
The best part, everything with Quince is half the cost of similar brands.
Fraser
By working directly with top artisans and cutting out the middlemen, Quint gives you luxury pieces without the markups.
Ben Mandelker
And Quints only works with factories that use safe, ethical and responsible manufacturing practices and premium fabrics and finishes.
Fraser
We both use Quint. I've got some really sweet pieces from there. One of my favorites is a leather jacket that I going to keep forever. You know I use it and you should too.
Ben Mandelker
Stick to the staples that last with elevated essentials from quints. Go to quince.com crappins for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's Q U I N C E.com crappins to get free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com crappins Sally from Finance loves fly fishing.
Fraser
She used to spend her weekend surrounded by receipts. Then she switched her company to ramp.
Ben Mandelker
Now spend is all under control, all in one place. Her team submits their expenses with a.
Fraser
Text and she can close the books.
Ben Mandelker
Without all the busy work.
Fraser
So Sally's weekends are all her own.
Ben Mandelker
Surrounded by fish, not receipts. Switch your business to ramp.com and love finance again. So Fraser's got to figure this all out. And then meanwhile Carrie is reminding Fraser to get a checklist together because that's important. And then Rainbow is checking in on Anthony and he's gonna be making like a little Provencal tart, a little sort of like small pizzas. And I was like, you are trying way too hard for these people. Yeah, you just put, put some store bought like focaccia dough in the oven, put some, some shredded moths on there and then serve it to them because they are not going to even appreciate this Provencal miniature tart. Right.
Ash Kelly
Bologna and cheese sandwich and call it a day. That's really all they deserve. That's the energy.
Ben Mandelker
Yeah, they deserve. I mean I wouldn't be mad at a bologna and cheese sandwich.
Ash Kelly
I actually love the bologna and cheese sandwich. As soon as I said it I was like, I kind of, I keep running into this Elena has been bringing up bolognese cheese a lot for some reason, and other people are like, yeah, that sou sounds great. That sounds disgusting to me.
Ben Mandelker
You're like, wait a second, I'm not gonna cut something.
Ash Kelly
Cheese and mustard. Oh, get out of here.
Ben Mandelker
That sounds actually quite good. I haven't had bologna in years.
Ash Kelly
Me neither.
Ben Mandelker
I used to love it as a kid.
Ash Kelly
I miss it. What is baloney? I don't want to know.
Ben Mandelker
What isn't it?
Ash Kelly
Exactly. Yeah, see, that's my problem. I don't need to know anything about it.
Ben Mandelker
No.
Ash Kelly
If I don't know about it.
Ben Mandelker
A little bit of everything. Yeah, it's a little. You've got. But I think it's got some. Some. Maybe there's some beef, some pork, maybe some seal, you know, in honor of our sealies.
Ash Kelly
No, you guys can have those. I'll have the tarts.
Ben Mandelker
It's. It's about 85% salt. That's what. That's what baloney is. Yeah, yeah, it's all sodium.
Ash Kelly
Yeah.
Ben Mandelker
So Anthony is telling us that tonight's like the VIP party, and he's like, well, I want to show my talent, and I want them to feel, of course, a unique experience, but, you know, I killed myself last season, so. But from what I learned in yachting, save your time. So I think it's better to keep it simple for lunch and be focused for a unique tasting dinner. So he's finally learned how to budget his time, which is great. He. It only took him a season and a half, so. Good for you, Anthony.
Ash Kelly
Well done.
Ben Mandelker
Very happy for him.
Ash Kelly
You know, the vengeance that's. That's carrying him this season, he really.
Ben Mandelker
Does have a lot of vengeance. And I don't know. I mentioned this on the podcast before, but do you know why? I have a theory on why he has vengeance. Do you know what my theory is? It's because of Ronnie Caram. I think Ronnie Caram caused this plot line, and here's why. Last season on Below Deck, when the. The edit was that Anthony got in over his head, he couldn't do it anymore. He was also plagued with some grief over his father, and he started off strong, but he just couldn't keep up. And then he sort of.
Ash Kelly
Of.
Ben Mandelker
He just sort of like he bombed out and. But Ronnie had this theory that I co. Signed with, but I'm just give it to credit, good credit to Ronnie because he's the first one who really picked up on this. His whole theory was that Fraser kept on undermining Anthony and so, like, Even though Anthony was not great, like, Fraser was the one who kept on, like, making his life harder and unraveling him. And so that was, like, what Ronnie was always saying. And the show was not presenting it that way in terms of the show was not presenting an edit. Like. Like, look at what Fraser's doing. It just. Ronnie was, like, reading between the lines. He's like, if you look closely, you know, Fraser was unraveling him. Well, here's the thing. At the top of this season, Anthony says when he comes on board, he says, Barbie called me and was telling me about how, like, Fraser was, you know, undermining me. And the thing is that Barbie last season was always, like, liking our stuff on Instagram. So I'm pretty sure she was listening. So my theory is Ronnie hatch a theory on watch where crap ins. Barbie heard it, Barbie told Anthony, and now Anthony has come onto the new season of Below Deck all pissed because Ronnie's theory. He heard Ronnie's theory through Barbie, and he was like, wait a second. That's right. So I want to congratulate Ronnie, because.
Ash Kelly
I think this is because Ronnie broke the fourth wall of podcasting. Yeah.
Ben Mandelker
Ronnie, he full on. Like, he. He, He. He. He got in there. He's like, Monica. He's like, reality Von Tees infiltrating Salt Lake City.
Ash Kelly
Holy. Oh, my God.
Ben Mandelker
Yeah. Isn't amazing.
Ash Kelly
He really did, and I love that Barbara. Of course she did.
Ben Mandelker
I don't know if it's true, but I. I have to believe it's true. And I want. I'm gonna. I'm gonna lean into it. You know, that just.
Ash Kelly
That works for me.
Ben Mandelker
Yeah. He's a powerful man. Like, there's nothing that Ronnie can't do.
Ash Kelly
I agree.
Ben Mandelker
She's. Yeah. I'm so proud of him for doing.
Ash Kelly
This by his side. The two of them could get it all done.
Ben Mandelker
They could fix what's going on in our country right now.
Ash Kelly
I believe it. They just got to get together.
Ben Mandelker
Ronnie could. Ronnie would literally, like, get a Ronnie. We go to Washington, be like, you know, what are you guys doing? You know what? This. I've had enough of this, Okay? I. I was. I worked in a bowling alley growing up, and this is bullshit.
Ash Kelly
This is bullshit.
Ben Mandelker
He would just go in there, and he would just. He would point his finger at everyone, and he'd get it. He'd get shit done. And then Barbie would do something too. Yeah, Barbie would be effective in her own way.
Ash Kelly
Yeah. She would do her thing. Moral support.
Ben Mandelker
Precisely. So meanwhile, we see Barbara. So this season we have Barbara, not Barbie, but Barbara is talking with Fraser and he's freaking out because he's not getting anything from the event planner. So then Fraser goes up to Carrie and he's like, well, my event kind of went quiet on me, but here's a picture of the stage. He's like, well, I thought the stage was going to be higher up, but I guess this would be okay. It's just a wood plank and some linens. That's fine. I guess we'll do all right with it. I don't know what sort of stage they were thinking they were going to be getting like a Coachella stage in three hours.
Ash Kelly
Yeah. When he said he thought it was going to be, like, lifted, I was like, did you. Did you really think so? Because I didn't even. There.
Ben Mandelker
He had literal high hopes.
Ash Kelly
Yeah.
Ben Mandelker
So then meanwhile, Rainbow and Selena are having another one of their scenes. Poor Rainbow, she's. She's really trying to connect with the other women, but she can't because I know one thing. I don't know, Ash, if you saw it in the earlier episode or if you'd already tuned out by then, but Rainbow shared a story about growing up in Holland. Did you hear this? Yeah. Where she said that, like, when she and her sisters would fight all the time, so her dad brought them to a. An island in the middle of a lake and like, said, you have an hour and you guys can like, tear yourself to pieces. And then after that, like, no more fighting.
Ash Kelly
That's extreme parenting. What? That's what they call extreme parenting. If you're like, never start fighting. You find her, you find a la In Holland.
Ben Mandelker
Specifically in Holland. I think it has. I think the. The Dutchness of it makes. It sort of like elevates the stakes.
Ash Kelly
Right? Yeah. I feel like Yolanda Foster might have done this as well.
Ben Mandelker
I was about to say this is what Anwar, Gigi and. And Bella had to do it along, so.
Ash Kelly
Well, now that is. They figured it out.
Ben Mandelker
If you want to have your almond for dinner, first you have to fight it out on island.
Ash Kelly
That's like, they just like create Thunderdome for these kids that are just like, all right, come out normal. Seems like it did something. I don't know. I don't know. I think it gave her anxiety is what it did. Yeah. High functioning anxiety.
Ben Mandelker
Yeah. Three models enter, one model leaves. Don't hurt Gigi. She has the most promise. Yeah. But Rainbow, so she's like, really struggling this season to connect with the other women. And you can see she's like Trying. It's like she looked up on. On, like, the same AI that, you know, was talking to me about mattresses. It was like she asked Google, like, how do I relate to other women? And Google was like, that's a great question. And here's something you can do. You can hug a lot, or you can ask nice questions, or you can smile or maybe give a kiss on the cheek. So she's like, been trying to do all these things in this, like, robotic way. Like, that doesn't really match the context of the moment. And now everyone's just weirded out by her. So actually, people are more distant from her than ever before. So here she is again, trying to connect, and she's talking with Solene, and she's like, so, what's your least favorite dish to wash? Which is, of course, a question that like.
Ash Kelly
Like, who asks that?
Ben Mandelker
You're putting stuff in the dishwasher.
Ash Kelly
To be honest, that would throw me off as well. I'd be like, what? She was like, I don't.
Ben Mandelker
I understand nothing. Can you please. She understood. She was just like, I don't want to answer the stupid question.
Ash Kelly
When she said, I understand nothing, she meant like, I understand nothing you're doing. I don't understand your approach. It would have been weirder if she was like, forks, for sure. Like, answer.
Ben Mandelker
The sad part is, I'm like, what a weird question. And yet I would love someone to ask me that, because I love an ask answering questions like that. What is the. What is your least favorite dish? What is. What is your least favorite dish to wash my notes.
Ash Kelly
Yeah, I hate washing. I have slow feeders for my animals, the cats and the dog, and they're disgusting to wash because you have to get, like, in the crevices. See, mine isn't a dish. Mine is a spoon. Oh, because. Oh, because it flings the water back at you.
Ben Mandelker
Yeah, but I think. I think a spoon count. I think, like. I think in this case, like, dishes is, like, holistically, like, when you're cleaning, when you're doing dishes, like, what are your least favorite? I think a spoon. A spoon counts. You also, by the way, Elena, you also don't have to be a monster and put your full force of water on the spoon. I mean, use some judgment, please.
Ash Kelly
I can't help it, though. I feel weird turning it down because then I feel like it's not. Not clean enough. No. You know what it's all about? You can really get into the semantics here. It's about the angle at which you hold it yeah, I've learned to, like, do it to the back of the thing.
Ben Mandelker
Yeah.
Ash Kelly
It doesn't go right in my face, but if I'm doing it quick, boom. Yeah. Every time it is.
Ben Mandelker
I. You know what? I don't like washing at all. Oh, I'll tell you what I hate wash. Okay. I've got. Okay, I got two things now. They're all flooding in right now. I say this, by the way, as Dom is upstairs doing dishes.
Ash Kelly
I can literally hear was here.
Ben Mandelker
I'm like, she is so weird. Now let's spend 10 minutes talking, answering. But I do not like washing a wire rack. Like, if you have to, like, cook something on, you know, in, like, a pan, you put a wire rack. Because, first of all, stuff is usually stuck onto it really badly. But also, it's like. It's like the. Like, the sponge doesn't go over it nicely. And I'm talking about, like, a gridded one, not, like, yes, lines.
Ash Kelly
Yep.
Ben Mandelker
And, like, the water, it's like you want to spray it. Like, it just. You never quite get the right coverage. And I would say the same goes for, like, a mesh strainer is also very annoying to me.
Ash Kelly
Next one.
Ben Mandelker
That's awful to wash. Really annoying. Salad spinner is oddly very annoying to wash because it's got, like, again, lines. The lettuce really clings to it, too. You think the lettuce would release right away, but that lettuce will stay in there as long as it can stay in. It's like clinging on for dear life.
Ash Kelly
It's like rainbow conversation.
Ben Mandelker
The rainbow. I'll tell you the number one worst thing to clean. The number one. This is a little bit more niche. I have a silicone rolling mat, so if you want to make, like, a pie dough or something like this, you put it down on the counter so that way it doesn't stick as much. And it has, like, measuring things, whatever. And so you make your pie dough, but then when you have to clean it, it's this big floppy. It's a big floppy flap of silicone.
Ash Kelly
Yeah. Yep. It's like selkie skin. Yeah.
Ben Mandelker
It's actually 100% selkie. It was found found on a beach. That is truly the worst thing to clean in the world. I don't know if you guys have experience with that, but it is.
Ash Kelly
It's.
Ben Mandelker
There's just no good and easy way to do it. It just flops around in the sink, I think.
Ash Kelly
Yeah, you win.
Ben Mandelker
Yeah, it's the worst. You can't get any purchase on it. You're trying. It's like, nope. If anyone has any tips on how to clean those things, please let me know, because I'm living in hell.
Ash Kelly
I'm in constant hell with this thing. Ben is actually sweating right now.
Ben Mandelker
See, I am in hell.
Ash Kelly
Oh. Asked you this. Asked all of that. She would be so happy with this conversation. We could have connected so deeply.
Ben Mandelker
I would have made her yachting experience much better.
Ash Kelly
Because you would have.
Ben Mandelker
We all would have. Because we would have. We would have given her the. The respect that that question deserved.
Ash Kelly
Yeah, absolutely. Salil just didn't have time for that.
Ben Mandelker
No, no, no. No time. She's like, no, don't understand. I know. I hate it. I hate watching everything. Goodbye.
Ash Kelly
Like, why are you here? I knew immediately when she said, I understand nothing. I was like, this is not going to go how Rainbow would like it to be. No. It's just.
Ben Mandelker
No.
Ash Kelly
Kept asking and kept reiterating, and I was like, I'm getting so uncomfortable. I know.
Ben Mandelker
Yeah. Rainbow just, like, just. Just stop trying to connect with her at the point it's Your desperation is driving people away. Just do your job. Don't talk to other people. Like, talk to who you want to talk to. Don't. Yeah. Don't try to, like, get people's. Win people over because it's too late. It's too late. Just head down, head down.
Ash Kelly
Kiss.
Ben Mandelker
Get into. Yeah, yeah, Exactly. That seems to be building quietly. Is like a relationship with her and Damo. I don't know if that will happen, but. Oh, my goodness, my phone's ringing. I bet this is my mom. It's not. I put everything on Do Not Disturb, and I cannot tell you the number of vibrations I've been dealing with on my watch and my phone during this entire podcast.
Ash Kelly
Everybody's notifying anyway. You know how they give you that option? I'm surprised hasn't called. She always knows when we're podcasting. Just did. Stop it. Yeah. I literally felt the vibrations right there.
Ben Mandelker
My parents, because of course I have them whitelisted. They can get through Do Not Disturb. And it's like, literally every time it's like that phone rings. It's like. It's like the lights go down in the theater and then that phone starts to ring.
Ash Kelly
I'm like, every single time. Yep.
Ben Mandelker
They know. Okay. So going. So. So now we have, like, Rainbow gives us some background, by the way. We get. The Instagram wall comes flying up and she tells us, I'm trying to do better as a leader and I would. I would love to connect. But it's just, it's not working very well. So. Growing up I was very much a troublemaker. And now that's why I take so much responsibility, which is when I'm involved in any conflict. Because growing up I was usually my fault. And that's why I keep trying to like never give up. But like, it's just not the greatest feeling. That was what she needs. She needs some rest. I'm sorry. That made no sense.
Ash Kelly
She really just said like a lot and connected words would like. And when she said growing up it was my fault, I was like, yeah, she told you that? Like, I was like, oh, yeah. She's. She's hurting.
Ben Mandelker
What? What? She's like went through the Scared Straight program or something because she's like, I was always a troublemaker. I was always at fault. So now I'm just like. I don't know. I'm just trying to like never give up. Up. She's. I guess she's like afraid of it being her fault again. Like she did. Was there like a. Was there like a dead body that came into the mix here where she was like, never again. I can never go back to those ways. It's you. It's you, Ash.
Ash Kelly
Never again.
Ben Mandelker
The ghost of her past.
Ash Kelly
I scared her straight.
Ben Mandelker
So she. That was like a little insight into what makes Rainbow tick. And then now the boat is approaching this, approaching the dock. And this season, the boat every single time has to go through the world. Tiny has a little gap. They make this stupid ass bridge. I'm like mad at this bridge. Why do you build the world's smallest drawbridge in front of like Yacht Plaza? Like there's so many yachts coming in and out of this thing and you decide to make a bridge that like you have to like slide through.
Ash Kelly
They did it.
Ben Mandelker
Mad.
Ash Kelly
I'm horrified by this bridge. I don't want to drive on it. I don't want to be near it. I don't want to look at it. No, I hate it.
Ben Mandelker
I think they should take it down. I say take it down and, and they'll figure out some other way to get, to get across that gap. Because I think it's. I don't think. I don't think it's right. Channel, zip line. Yeah. Or here's an idea. How about a drawbridge that spans the entire gap, not just the little corner of it that the boats have to go through. That.
Ash Kelly
That seems much better. That makes sense.
Ben Mandelker
That's what we call. That's what we call thinking. Right there.
Ash Kelly
That's what we call innovation. Yeah. Big thinking, you know?
Ben Mandelker
So really why I'm annoyed is because it means that every single episode, we have to sit through them being like, oh, are we gonna hit the. Are we gonna hit the dock? Are we gonna hit the bridge? Because they never hit it. But we have to sit through, like, 10 minutes of them getting the fenders out and calling numbers, like, 54 meters, 3 meters, 2 meters. There's a turtle. There's a dolphin. Oh, we're fine. Everything's okay.
Ash Kelly
Do you think they're gonna hit it at some point this season?
Ben Mandelker
No, because if they were gonna hit it, they would have shown it in the previews. That Bravo cannot help themselves.
Ash Kelly
That's. Yeah, that's very valid.
Ben Mandelker
There was one season of Sailing out where. Where, remember, they hit the dock and they. They used that footage so much like it was. It was in every single promo. It was all the time. They just showed that Doc crumbling over and over and over again. Like, if Bravo can show, like, crash that they will catastrophe. They will do it.
Ash Kelly
Yes. No, that's a good point.
Ben Mandelker
Yeah. They'll do the best that they can. So they make it in. It's fine. And now. Now they're. They're still concerned about setting up this concert. And so Carrie's like, well, I don't see any guest requests as being unreasonable. I just see it as layers of difficulty. Oh, I had this one guest who wanted the sunset on the left side of the boat and not the right side of the boat. So we spun the boat around. Like, that does not compare to building a concert. That's a false equivalency.
Ash Kelly
It's a little different.
Ben Mandelker
That's like, literally the most doable. That's a very doable request. Turning the boat around. That's like, literally, his job is to move the boat. Like, that's easy. You move the boat around. This is a concert.
Ash Kelly
Yeah.
Ben Mandelker
So I'll say this up there, you know, look, man, this is tough. So they're setting up and everything. Anthony's figuring out, oh, Anthony and Fraser have a spat. This is a really tense moment. I don't know if you caught this when you guys were watching, but, yeah, Anthony was like, fizzy officer. We still plan to have dinner at 8. He's like, well, it could be between 7 and 8, all right, but I need to know what time. Well, between seven and eight, all right, but what I want to know what time I make a magic happen. There's a lot of do. He's like, well, how about between 7:01 and 7:59. I need a little bit more narrow than that. How about 7:30? He's like, fine. Well, we could do it at 8, say. But I want to do it 730 now. But what about 8? I was like, oh, my God.
Ash Kelly
It's like you guys are just fighting to fight at this point. They absolutely are. They hate each other. Because I love that he said between seven and eight. And he was like, no, I need to know. And then he was like, 7:30. And he was like, how many? It's like you. Between seven and eight. They ended up at the same exact spot.
Ben Mandelker
Yeah. I'm like, it all worked out. So Anthony is really, you know, he's spiraling because he's like, bro, you really need to chill out. This is what he tells us. He's like, so I've been doing this job for a really long time and I don't need babysitter. I also have some questions, like, why I got fired that way. I hear on podcast that I was being undermined. I don't know.
Ash Kelly
I don't know.
Ben Mandelker
Someone from Texas was very angry at Fraser and I decided I am angry too.
Ash Kelly
Ronnie.
Ben Mandelker
Ronnie. Not sure that's what I hear from Bobby. So Jess and Elaine are flirting and making out and stuff, and Selena's telling us that she's done definitely, like, way more attracted to men. But, like, she's like, oh, no, but with Scottish. I'm not closing door with him, but I really don't know. We all kiss.
Ash Kelly
You.
Ben Mandelker
Really don't care. Really don't care who Selena's attracted to it right now, I'm like, fold your sheets. Wipe that surface.
Ash Kelly
Go find your favorite dish to wash. Yeah.
Ben Mandelker
Yeah. How about this? How about you find some. How about you find some preferences on what you like to wash?
Ash Kelly
Yeah.
Ben Mandelker
How about you. How about you reveal that you have thoughts on these things? Yeah. Connect with Rainbow. How about that?
Ash Kelly
She deserves it. She does.
Ben Mandelker
She does. She's trying to connect with you. You should connect back with her instead of connecting with. With other people while you should be working. So they're still. That there's a lot of time setting up for this concert. They continue to set up. Plates are going out, performers are arriving. It is starting to look a bit more like a. Like a concert. And so then finally it's time. So Fraser radios the interior, they round up all the guests, and they have to be at the sky Lounge in 10 minutes. And they get up there and they open up the. The VIP lounge to the deck, and the concert is there. There's like 15 people there dancing. They make it. They try to make it look like it's like, really big, big concert, but you can kind of see it's like, like, say 30 people, you know?
Ash Kelly
Yeah. Yeah. I think that might be generous. Yeah.
Ben Mandelker
Yeah. But it's cool. I mean, there's like. There are definitely people on stilts and there's like, fire dancers and. Yeah, there's a lot of activity. Like, it was. It was a thing.
Ash Kelly
They pulled it off.
Ben Mandelker
But then I was like, so you guys are doing this whole big concert on the dock just so you can watch it from the yacht. Yeah, that's gonna stay on the yacht about.
Ash Kelly
Because I did not see them go, yeah, we're out there for, like, maybe five minutes. They were like, hey, okay, we're gonna go back on the out now. You're like, they went to bed at 9:30. What did they. Yeah, because I was. I was looking at it. I'm like, oh, the whole crew has to stay up until they go to sleep. Huh? And I was like, that would. I would struggle. Like, I'd be like, you guys gotta go to sleep. Yeah. Sometimes they stay up until like, 2am I showed them going to sleep, and it said 9:30. You don't strike me as the kind of people that go to sleep at 9:30. I know. I was shocked.
Ben Mandelker
Yeah, they. And they, like. I mean, I think at some point they went down to the deck, but, like, onto the dock. But, like, they were primarily on the boat. Yeah, they're like, just set up something that we can see from the boat, which just felt. It felt weird. It felt unnecessary. There was something also that. That felt. There was something weird about, like, these, like, white Americans coming to the islands and being like, I'm gonna stay on a boat. I'm gonna look down. I will not actually. I won't actually go into it. I'm just gonna look down and, like, perform your culture for us. I don't know. Like, it was. It was like. I got this. It had this undertone.
Ash Kelly
Very American. It was the, like, just watching them experience the thing that they had orchestrated, like, was so weird from their pedestal. Yeah. It was just such a Weird.
Ben Mandelker
Yeah, there's. There was something about it. Like, you know, I don't know why. If they had gone into the, like. If they had actually, like, spent more time on the dock, it would have felt less like, that. I don't know. I think there's just something about being on this big luxury boat.
Ash Kelly
Yeah.
Ben Mandelker
And making everyone move all the stuff around to put on this performance for them to watch on this boat looking down on them. It just sort of like the optics of it and the vibe of it just felt like I was like, I don't know how I feel about this.
Ash Kelly
Yeah, it was very charter guest.
Ben Mandelker
At the very least. It was very charter guest. And to be fair, we did see them go down onto the dock. So that there was that too. But I was like, wait, but you're not planning to spend your time primarily on the dock.
Ash Kelly
No. It's like they went through all this trouble.
Ben Mandelker
You just want something to look at from the boat. I don't know.
Ash Kelly
Yeah, too much.
Ben Mandelker
Next time it's called, you know what I do. Plug in your phone and press play on some music.
Ash Kelly
That's what I say. And then bring Rocky back in to dress up like a mermaid and jump in the water. There you go.
Ben Mandelker
I mean, someone speaking of mermaids, right?
Ash Kelly
Yeah.
Ben Mandelker
Speaking of selkies. She's a selkie that lost her way and became a mermaid. Probably rejected from the mermaid people.
Ash Kelly
Definitely.
Ben Mandelker
Here comes one right now. Rakuten is the smartest way to save money when you shop because you earn cash back at over 3,500 stores. Fashion, beauty, electronics, home essentials, travel, dining, concert tickets and more. Your favorite stores like Lowe's, Levi's and Nike pay Rakuten to send them shoppers and Rakuten then passes on a part of that payment to its members as cash back. You're already shopping at your favorite stores. Why not save while you're doing it? It's a no brainer. Membership is free and easy to sign up. Get the Rakuten app now and join the 17 million members who are already saving. Cashback rates change daily. See rakuten.com for details. That's R a K u T E N Your cash back really adds up.
Ash Kelly
Space meets Spark in the 2026 Ioniq 9, Hyundai's first three row electric SUV. Room for the crew and gear plus even the dog gets a seat. The Ioniq 9 rear wheel drive S trim gets up to an EPA estimated 335 miles on a full charge. Actual range will vary plus you get a 10 year 100,000 mile hybrid electric, limited battery warranty and 150 miles of range with 15 minutes of charge when using a 350 kilowatt DC ultra fast charger and CCS adapter. Actual charge time may vary. Learn more at HyundaiUSA.com, call 562-314-4603 for complete details.
Ben Mandelker
The party's happening, it's fun, and Fraser's really happy, you know, and so then the food is being served, like, shrimp cocktail and cooked monsieur and a broccoli soup. I'm sorry, Anthony, did you just not. Didn't you just have, like, a monologue about, like, we are going to do a simple launch? That way dinner can be a masterpiece. And you're like, serving shrimp cocktail and broccoli soup.
Ash Kelly
It looks really good, though.
Ben Mandelker
It looked delicious. But like, he's acting like he was gonna make, like a Peking duck or something.
Ash Kelly
Yeah, but like, I thought it was going to be a fence.
Ben Mandelker
Yeah, yeah. So everyone's wasted. Fraser drops a glass, breaks a glass. He drops a glass. And then, of course, guess who's there to see it. Pride of the selkies. She's like.
Ash Kelly
She's horrible. Pride of the selkies.
Ben Mandelker
She's like, you dropped that, Fraser. What the. Fraser. I said, you made a mess. Fraser.
Ash Kelly
I felt so bad. I was like, fraser, say something really mean to her. Kill her.
Ben Mandelker
Sacrifice your job. I couldn't. Dawn was so awful that I couldn't tell if she was actually doing, like, tongue in cheek bossiness and like, f was. I sort of had this feeling like after every time we saw her bark at them, she laughed like, I'm just kidding, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. Let me help you up with that. But they just kept on cutting that part out just to make her look terrible, like, because she was so bad. I couldn't imagine that she was. She was that bad. Sincerely, the entire time.
Ash Kelly
That's. Yeah, nasty. It's always weird when you see these people be so awful because you're like, you know, you're being filmed right now. Like, there's a camera in your face. So are you turning it on for the camera or are you worse when there's no cameras? Probably worse.
Ben Mandelker
Yeah, well, it's always, you know. And the thing is this. Please note that dawn, as well as that little guy with the beard who is a piece of shit as well, they were the bossiest and the loudest and they were friends of the primaries. And like, you know, on below deck and the below deck, the greater world, it's always the friends of who get, like, the free ride, who are always the most obnoxious. The primaries are usually not as obnoxious. They can be, but it's always the friends who are like, you know, they were the ones that gifted this. Or even if they have to pay, there's something about being the friend of. They just like want to make a mark or something. And they are the worst on these shows.
Ash Kelly
Remember that one friend who wouldn't share a room with another girl and the poor girl was like sleeping in the main living area. And then Captain Lee had to give up his bed for her to sleep there.
Ben Mandelker
Oh my God. That was like 100 forgot that.
Ash Kelly
I don't think I will ever forget that as long as I live. She was like, no, she's not sleeping in here, by the way. She's on this trip. Like, she's a cow. You can sleep in my room. She's a cat. I think he called her a cow or something awful.
Ben Mandelker
I love it when the guests fight with each other. Like, I get so invested in their drama when they are bickering and they're like, cindy, be quiet. You have to go to bed. Cindy, go to bed to right now, Cindy. And C's like, look, you always do this ever since I. You always done go to bed, Sydney. You're drunk. I'm not drunk. You're drunk. I'm happy years the man that's crumbling because their always. It turns into like an Edward Alby play. And I'm like, I would like to watch that.
Ash Kelly
Hell yeah.
Ben Mandelker
Watch more of that. Could you keep the cameras on this?
Ash Kelly
It looks like this season is going to be crazy. Like next episode or maybe the next couple.
Ben Mandelker
Yeah, there's gonna be a drunk lady.
Ash Kelly
Some lady off the boat. Yeah. That's the thing I think about the beginning of the season is like. I was like, I want to see more of the guest drama and less of the. Less of the romance. It looks like there will be more. It does, actually. After watching this episode and seeing what was to come, I was like, I think I might be signing back on to this season.
Ben Mandelker
I know. No, the trailer was great. I mean, it's. It's been like a perfectly fine season. I just don't really like the tweaks that they've made and the past like two or three weeks, like this whole thing with Solane, it's like. It's just. It's like deeply uninteresting to me. Maybe I'm like a curmudgeon, but I just, I. I tune into these shows to see like the work dynamics, workplace dynamics, and it's like not. I don't really care who she's gonna choose. Now. I know that she. Her previous experience was that she was on like Love Island France, but.
Ash Kelly
Oh, yeah, I forgot that.
Ben Mandelker
Maybe that's. Maybe that's why she. Maybe she's, like, used to this sort of situation.
Ash Kelly
That's what she was called in for. That makes sense.
Ben Mandelker
Did you guys watch Love island, by the way?
Ash Kelly
I can't get into Love island. And I keep trying. I have not tried, but I feel like I want to. I want to so desperately. And I'll keep. Everyone talks about it. Yeah. I'm like. I feel like I'm missing out on something. Same.
Ben Mandelker
Wow. I really feel like Rainbow trying to connect with people.
Ash Kelly
What's your favorite? Love Island. I understand.
Ben Mandelker
What's your favorite what? Love Island. So. So anyway, dawn is making Fraser's life hell, and he's like, they have no decorum, no class. And he's not wrong. They're like. And then they're just, like, yelling like, rainbow, get out, Rainbow.
Ash Kelly
One of them's like, you can't leave the room, Rainbow. I was like, oh, my God. Yeah, punch that guy in the face. And then one of the biggest. Don says, you don't make the rules. I make the rules. And I was like, like, no. That person was literally hired to run this ship. Like, they do in fact, make the rule.
Ben Mandelker
They do. They actually make the rules. Don makes zero rules. I don't know who dawn is. I don't know what her job is. I want to actually go back to the previous episode and, like, zoom in on the preference sheet because sometimes you can see what their jobs are. I know that they all run strip clubs, but I don't know if. I don't know. Does Don is Don. Does she deal with the day by day? She's not a stripper herself, I don't think. I think she's just sort of, like, running. I think she comes by and she drops off the booze. She's like, I got some booze for you. Great shift.
Ash Kelly
Or she's like the mean lady in the back that, like, makes the lineup.
Ben Mandelker
Maybe she's the dj. She's like, all right, everyone, coming out next is Cinnamon. Get out there, Cinnamon. I make the rules.
Ash Kelly
You don't make the rules. I believe it.
Ben Mandelker
So then Rainbow is. She's stressed. You know, she's dressed because she literally wears it all over her face. And she, like, her eyebrows go up and she look, her eyes get big and she's like, I don't know what to do. So she's asking where Soso is, which is so lame. And Celine is off talking to the deck team because of course she's flirting with them, etc, with basically Jess. And so Fraser is like, you know, I think it's like a mid season situation where things have been going so good so you feel like you can sit back and do nothing. And Rainbow's like, yeah, it's like kind of demotivating for me, you know, like, I'm not about to cry, but I'm gonna cry because I still don't know what her least favorite dish is to clean. I mean, I just. There's so many options. I could have helped her out with that colander. Gonna be colander, Please tell me. So she's. Rainbow is losing it because she's doing all the work and Soso is off talk, talking to the deck team and flirting with Jess and all that stuff.
Ash Kelly
Stuff.
Ben Mandelker
And then Demo Demo weighs in and he's like, I'm starting to see that Jason's lane are distracting each other, which ends up causing more work for us. And it's fine. You know, you're welcome to be distracted by another attractive person at work, but everybody needs to do their part and you need to do your job because we're a team and we pick up everyone else's lack when a smell drops the line. So we're all going to fall over. It's not good. So they're basically all getting annoyed at Celine. So she's never going to get fired, though, because she's too good tv. Right. Do you think she should be fired?
Ash Kelly
Yes. In a work sense? Absolutely. For watching this show. Sense. No.
Ben Mandelker
Yeah. She literally has been totally incapable the entire season. She's. She does like three things and she's like, that was a lot of work. Time for me to have break now.
Ash Kelly
She says that at least three times an episode.
Ben Mandelker
It seems she does it like three times within, like, like 15 minutes on this episode, I swear to God.
Ash Kelly
And later, actually drinking.
Ben Mandelker
Yeah, she was drinking something, maybe just apple juice, I don't know. But she was like, oh, time for break for me. Because they gave her that edit where they show everyone working really hard, and then she's like, drinking a beverage in the corner. Oh, time for work. Time for break. So Rambo's telling. Rainbow's getting frustrated. She's like, you know, she just doesn't want to do it. It's like, I get it, you're tired, but I'm also tired. I. I'm more than happy to help the team any way possible. I'll even clean my least favorite dish, whatever that is. Someone can ask. I'll never tell. Just kidding. I would love to tell someone. You know, she's like, so Celine, I don't know if you realize this, but when I ask you, what. What's your least favorite dish? It's more so that way you'll than ask me what's your least favorite dish? And then I can tell you because I have something planned. But. But you won't ask me, so I can't let it out. And I have all this anxiety built up inside me about pizza cutters.
Ash Kelly
Oh, pizza cutters are a bad one to clean. Oh, those aren't so bad because when you. It. It spins.
Ben Mandelker
That's true. What about ice cream?
Ash Kelly
But then it's like. But then you have to move it to get behind where the wheel. That's true. Hits the handle. That's true.
Ben Mandelker
I usually sort of grab it the. I. I sort of do like a swirly on it on top. I hold it carefully and just really. I. I'll tell you what is bad is a, like an old fashioned ice cream scoop or a cookie scoop. You've got that metal thing that swings. You have to get under that.
Ash Kelly
Under the little metal piece. That's almost impossible. That's hard. Rainbow had a lot to say. I know it. She had a whole planned.
Ben Mandelker
We have this much and there's a couple more that pops into our heads.
Ash Kelly
Yeah, she.
Ben Mandelker
She should have a podcast.
Ash Kelly
Like, we thought that was a strange question to ask. But I'm thinking now and I'm like, like, was that the ultimate conversation starter? Because like, yeah, when you really.
Ben Mandelker
I want to talk about. I don't want to talk. I don't want to recap anymore.
Ash Kelly
Put that on your hinge profile. Yeah, Yeah.
Ben Mandelker
I was called dishing it.
Ash Kelly
Oh, wow, that's smart. I like that. Give that to her. I just thought a sourdough starter container. Those are awful to clean. I don't have one of those.
Ben Mandelker
Wait, what? Tell them I don't have one. Is that like the why and why. Tell me what that looks like and why it's so awful.
Ash Kelly
Okay, so just whatever. You can keep it in whatever container you want to. Mine's an amazing jar, but it gets so crusted on there that it's like impossible to get off. And you really shouldn't put it down your drain because they expand.
Ben Mandelker
Wow, I did not know that. I thought.
Ash Kelly
Because she'll be like, oh, I have to feed my starter. I'm like, what do you mean you have to feed it? Like, what? What? And then you're gonna make me bread with it. Like, I just can't.
Ben Mandelker
I like to call it selkie flesh.
Ash Kelly
Selkie flesh eating My selkie flesh. Like that. And it, like, tells you when it's hungry, doesn't it? Or, well, it doesn't say, like, hey, I'm hungry. But there are characteristics where I can tell. I think it would be better.
Ben Mandelker
What are the characteristics?
Ash Kelly
It gets, like, super. Like, it gets bubbles on top that almost look like soap bubbles. That's when it's, like, super duper hungry.
Ben Mandelker
Oh, and also when you open up the jar, it goes, feed me, Seymour. Seymour. Give me all night long.
Ash Kelly
He's like, you know what? Later.
Ben Mandelker
Are you making? Do you make a lot of sourdough or do you just have a starter there just for.
Ash Kelly
No, I do make a lot of sourdough. She does. And it's really good. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah.
Ben Mandelker
I demand some next time I come to Boston.
Ash Kelly
Oh, I will. I make really good sourdough discard chocolate chip muffins. Oh, yeah. I'll bring you those.
Ben Mandelker
What's the discard part of it?
Ash Kelly
So the discard your, like, unfed. Like, it's unfed starter. See, this is the stuff I never ask because I don't.
Ben Mandelker
But I thought you were. But I thought you're feeding your. Why would you not. I'm so confused. And I'm. I'm. I'm a baker, but I'm like. So you have. Wait a second.
Ash Kelly
It sounds like.
Ben Mandelker
How do you not feed part. Don't you feed all of your start. Isn't it like, just either, like, the starter is fed or the starter is not fed?
Ash Kelly
Well, so the starter is fed. And when it's. When it's, like, really eaten everything or like in the process of eating everything, it doubles. Yeah, that kind of. Because it does sort of burp it. Bubbles. When you get the good bubbles, that's when you want to use it for, like, your sourdough bread. But then it goes back down once it's kind of like eaten everything. So then it's unfed, sort of. And that's the discard. And that's when you can either use that for a recipe or you can throw it like a discard recipe or you can throw it away. It's in.
Ben Mandelker
So you. Oh, so you want to use it. You want to use it when it is fed. And it's. That's big.
Ash Kelly
When it's active, if you're making sourdough bread, because that's when your bread is going to start rising.
Ben Mandelker
Okay. So you feed it. It gets bigger. And then you. When it's big, you use that to start your bread. But if you Decide not to use it, it's going to go back down again and then it can become discard, discard. Which is, by the way, honestly, quite rude.
Ash Kelly
It's a horrible thing to say.
Ben Mandelker
Like, I haven't fed you, therefore you're a discard. It's like, I've been waiting. Don't call me a discard. I'm sitting here in my jar waiting to be fed.
Ash Kelly
See, I use my discard. I don't discard my discard.
Ben Mandelker
I just. I really hope that we pull this entire sour Cloak clip and, like, put it on, make a video out of it, so that way you can give a sour dough tutorial while dressed like a dead bride.
Ash Kelly
Maybe I should. But that will be my YouTube channel, Dead Bride Bakes.
Ben Mandelker
So anyway, the point is Rainbow is going through it as usual. So she's like. But Rainbow is also. She's a passive aggressive boss too, because she's like, oh, my God, Solane, great work today. You know what, why don't you go to bed? Oh, but first, can you clean all the toilets? Thank you so much.
Ash Kelly
I kind of loved that when she did it. I was like, hell, yeah. That's what you get for not telling me your least favorite dish to wash. Yeah.
Ben Mandelker
Next time, tell me your thoughts on food processor blades.
Ash Kelly
Maybe I'll help you with the toilets.
Ben Mandelker
Yeah, honestly, it's like punishment. That's what you get. So. But of course, Solan Light does nothing. She's like, no, I'm going to go to bed. So then Rainbow is up until 5 in the morning or so. Actually just 2 in the morning still.
Ash Kelly
But then I'll begin.
Ben Mandelker
Yeah, they're up because she goes to 2:30. Then it's 5:45 in the morning. Anthony. Anthony's waking up and he's gonna make some lobster Benedict. And, you know, everyone's getting ready for some morning service or whatever. And then Barbara goes up to Hugo and she's like, can I ask you something? And he's like, yeah, what's up? He's like, you're in open a relationship, right? He's like, yeah, do you like someone here? I was like, what? I was nosy, questioning on Twitter.
Ash Kelly
I was like, barbara, do you like him? I thought you were a lesbian.
Ben Mandelker
I felt like the producers were like, hey, Barbara, go ask Hugo about his open relationship since he's late to the show and we need to get him talking about his personal life.
Ash Kelly
Let him mention it again. Probably that.
Ben Mandelker
Yeah. And then he's like, well, are you their pimp or madam? And she's like, I am a matchmaker. I was like, what are you talking about? Did. What is this matchmaking without context? Because we didn't see anyone say that they like Hugo. Right.
Ash Kelly
I think she did this on purpose, though, to make it seem like, so. So like Hugo. So then Hugo would flirt with so so. And then she could flirt with Jess without having to worry about so. So, though I think she kind of masterminded.
Ben Mandelker
I kind of love that.
Ash Kelly
I do too. I kind of really.
Ben Mandelker
I love a plot. Barbara is. I think I love Barbara, and I think it's like 90 her hair.
Ash Kelly
No, it absolutely is. Her hair is gorgeous.
Ben Mandelker
Her hair is amazing. And her personal style when she's off the yacht is also great too. It's like, yeah, it's. I'm just. I'm like, I'm, like, obsessed with Barbara, but I just had no idea what she was doing here. Like, I was very confused. She's like, I am matchmaker. She's like, so I have to speak with you because before I spread gossip, he's like, well, he's like, my team's got it covered, right? Because they're both still fighting for one, so I don't want to get mixed up on that. And she's like, yeah, but you like Celine, right? And she's like. He's like, yeah, she's pretty. She's like, okay, that's not the problem because we still have another one. I said, what are you. What is. What are you talking about, Barbara?
Ash Kelly
What's going on, Barbara?
Ben Mandelker
I haven't seen enough scenes to support this. This conversation right now. It makes no sense to me. So then of course, we get like, Instagram wall of Hugo, and he's saying that he's in an open relationship. And he's like, I'd be lying if I said. If I didn't say that Celine was attractive, but I just see so many hands in this pot. I was like.
Ash Kelly
I was like, damn.
Ben Mandelker
Talk about a dish that's difficult to clean, huh?
Ash Kelly
He said, it's not that. It's a turn off. It really just shuts me off. I was like. I was like, is that not a turn off? Wait, wait, What? Not a turn off? It's a little different.
Ben Mandelker
It's a shut off. Turn off. Just a shut off. I guess he's saying, I'm still attracted to her, but I am not going to pursue it. I'm shutting off my pursuant. My. My. I'm. I'm not gonna go down that path. But, yeah, it's a strange Term of phrase that he used. So, yeah, he's saying he really wants to connect with people, and that's the most important factor. I was like, good luck on this. Castle Rainbow's having it.
Ash Kelly
Tell you about it.
Ben Mandelker
I know. If you want to connect with people a better. I hope you're not bringing your. Your. Your dish cleaning banter because that's not going to work.
Ash Kelly
It's not the A game.
Ben Mandelker
We work with us, the three of us.
Ash Kelly
Yeah.
Ben Mandelker
Off. You would pop off.
Ash Kelly
Gangbusters with us. But everybody else, we will talk about it.
Ben Mandelker
We will talk about everything. But not this crew.
Ash Kelly
Good luck.
Ben Mandelker
They don't. Good luck. Good luck talking about soap scum. So anyway, by the way, have you guys covered on your podcast any really good maritime murders?
Ash Kelly
We really haven't, actually. I know we've been wanting to do more of those, actually, because I. I love them when I hear them anywhere else. We did one that was a, like this really remote place in Alaska. Yep. And there was like a whole crew of people that got murdered on a boat. And it's still unsolved. Yeah, it was a crazy one. It was Craig, Alaska. You might be right.
Ben Mandelker
Craig. Craig gone over Alaska.
Ash Kelly
Exactly.
Ben Mandelker
That one.
Ash Kelly
But, yeah, we haven't done a lot of maritime. We gotta watch that Captain Lee show to get some. Get some ideas. Yeah, we did like this of the Indianapolis. That was a really good one.
Ben Mandelker
Why was it so good.
Ash Kelly
Stories in that one? And then the stories of, like, them surviving up to a point, then how they, like, horrifically died, like, shark attacks. And it was like, oof. That story through maritime disasters.
Ben Mandelker
Maritime disasters are real. Those are. Those are. Those are pretty wild. But I feel like there's also like, a number of those stories of people who fall overboard. You know, like, there was like a. Yeah. Cruise ships. There was one. I remember, like, two or three years ago, there was like, a gay couple that got drunk and they got into a fight. And then one guy, like, wound up falling overboard and he was clinging onto the side of the boat and people were filming him. And then he couldn't cling on any longer. And then he just. Yeah, I looked at the video and it was really horrifying.
Ash Kelly
Oh, wow.
Ben Mandelker
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ash Kelly
And that's like my biggest fear. The ocean scares me so much. It's too vast.
Ben Mandelker
Scary.
Ash Kelly
So scary. Too. Too vast. I don't belong in there. No, not. No one belong there. None of us.
Ben Mandelker
We don't. That's not. That's not our natural, natural habitat. Because you know what? Like, I just Think what would happen if I were left adrift at sea and I couldn't tell anyone what my least favorite dish was to clean. Anyone?
Ash Kelly
What happened?
Ben Mandelker
I thought of one that's really good. Someone saved me. I have to let this out.
Ash Kelly
I need to tell you. Why. That's how they find you. They're like, we have this weird sound. Someone yelling about about district. You become lore.
Ben Mandelker
Garlic presses. They're so annoying.
Ash Kelly
No, I just don't. I'm an Earth sign. I belong on land. Yeah, I'm an air sign. So I guess Hal go to space. I don't know what I am, but what's your sign?
Ben Mandelker
Sagittarius.
Ash Kelly
Oh, you're fire.
Ben Mandelker
Oh, yes. Fire.
Ash Kelly
Volcano. Yeah.
Ben Mandelker
Does that mean I want to go to volcano? Like what is that? By the way, Alena, yours is the only sign that actually makes sense. Like I'm an Earth sign, so I want to be on land, but the rest of us is like, I'm a fire sign, so I want to throw myself into a pit of fire. That's not true.
Ash Kelly
Does it mean you're fiery? Yeah, it just means you're fiery because John's an Earth fire sign too. Yep.
Ben Mandelker
I think when people think of me, Ben Mandelker, they're like, look at that fiery guy. Look at him going to look at him as he. Look as he opens up his latest copy of an Ina Garten book, fiery personality.
Ash Kelly
Wait, do you know your rising sign? I don't have to turn this into an astrology.
Ben Mandelker
I would love to hear it. How do I find out what my rising sign is?
Ash Kelly
Do you know what time you were born?
Ben Mandelker
I think around 8:30 or something like that in the morning.
Ash Kelly
Okay, text me with that information later and I'll tell you your rising sign and your moon sign.
Ben Mandelker
Okay, I would love to know.
Ash Kelly
Your big three is very important.
Ben Mandelker
I'm pretty sure my rising sign is sourdough. Not discard sad, fed, just a sourdough. Okay, so back to. Back to what's happening on this boat? So Carrie congratulates Fraser for doing a great job. And then Fraser's basically saying how the staff is kind of starting to slip a little bit. And he's like, every year I see it happen and I don't want to happen again. So I'm going to have a meeting with him where I'm very, very serious. But before I do that, I'm going to gossip with him a whole bunch.
Ash Kelly
Like.
Ben Mandelker
Good luck. So Fraser is Fraser. They're like pulling into the dock. They're or they're, they're actually already at the dock, but they're like, waiting for everyone to leave this boat because it's the next day. And while they're waiting, Fraser and Kyler sitting on like a staircase. And inside they hear dawn be like, like, that laugh is going to haunt me for the rest of my days. It is chilling. I woke up hearing it and there was also like three seals at my door too. I was like, what is happening?
Ash Kelly
So weird. They said, take her. We will not.
Ben Mandelker
Yeah, no, she's terrible. She is just the worst. So then they're. They're all like lining. Well, they haven't lined up yet, but everyone's sort of like gathering together. And Fraser, Fraser's like, he's gossiping with Barbara. He's like, so guess what, Barbara? I just heard some gossip from Kyle while we were both listening to Don's awful, awful laugh when we picked up the guests. So, so said and Kyle had a kiss in the bathroom. And Barbara's like, okay, I don't think Barbara really cares that much. I know. I don't care personally.
Ash Kelly
No.
Ben Mandelker
No. I don't think that Fraser should be gossiping with his. With his second or his third.
Ash Kelly
Yeah, Yeah.
Ben Mandelker
I feel like. I don't think it's, like, good to be gossiping about another stew to the other stew when you're in your own department.
Ash Kelly
That's gonna cause some issues. But that's what he kind of does, though, because he did it last season with Barbie. He would talk shit about Barbie to anyone who would listen to.
Ben Mandelker
That is absolutely correct. So Barbara tells us that she loves Jess and everything, but, like, she just is worried that Jess is going to get hurt because, like, she's definitely had that experience with, like, straight people that, like, you know, they come, they like to experiment with, like, you know, they like to, like, experiment with a girl, I should say straight women, they come, experiment with the girl, then go back to guys. And I definitely feel like that's probably going to happen with Solene. What do you guys.
Ash Kelly
100%. 100. Yeah.
Ben Mandelker
Yeah, this is. This is definitely gonna happen. So the guests say goodbye. They give their tip and everything and they're, you know, they're nice enough. They're like, thanks for everything. It was great. So then Kyle, Kyle goes over to Jess and he has this, like, weird moment where he's like, sword. You got a minute? Jess, can I have a quick word with you? Quick, weird. Okay. I don't know about you, but I'm terrified. I feel like I heard the Sound of that, the selkies all charter long. Those are my people, you know. Anyway, so you beat me with the punches with Solan, Right. So I was a bit gutted. However, like, she has been sneaking kisses with me throughout the past charter, so just want you to know that I was like, what sort of posturing are you doing? Trying to, like. Trying to, like, intimidate Jess out of this love triangle or something like that. Like, 100%. I don't know. I felt like it was. He was. He was. He was really sulking a lot. All episode about this love triangle too, which. It sort of surprised me a little bit. I sort of thought he'd be, like, down for it, but, yeah, not like it at all.
Ash Kelly
I feel like he falls so hard, though. Like, even last time with Barbie, he was like, all in.
Ben Mandelker
Yeah. And so Jess is like, yeah, I mean, I. I guess I owe you an apology. I just, you know, like, you know, I should have spoken to you about it. I'm just having fun. I'm like, I don't think. I don't think that she owes him an apology because I don't think he would apologize to her if it was the other way around at all.
Ash Kelly
I don't think so.
Ben Mandelker
In fact, when Solene was showing that she was interested in Jess, he still was pursuing, trying to get kisses from Solene, and he was unapologetic about that. So I say, I'll deal with it. So that was my moment of sassiness. Fire sign. Fire sign. Podcasting. Everyone watch out. So fiery. So then Fraser is talking to Celine and he's like, so, did you kiss Scottish? And she's like, no, I really don't remember. It's like, stop stopping. Stop that. Stop being. You know. She's like, oh, I was washing toilets. I don't know. I was confused. I panic. I don't know. Did I kiss him? I don't know. So they all sit down for the tip meeting. That's like, the extent of you. That's what usually what her interactions are like. I don't know. I don't know. It's crazy.
Ash Kelly
I don't know.
Ben Mandelker
I don't understand. So Carrie is like, all right, everybody. Quite a chatter. A lot of challenges involved. Incredibly amazing, kind and friendly guests. Just kidding. They were the best guests I've ever met in one time. Wife. What more could you ask for? A little bit of respect, because you know what? I give, what I get. There we do. Emotion special extra one there. You did great jobs. Everyone first chartered with us. So Good job, Hugo. You took a lot of pressure off my shoulders and you've done a great job. Everything was great, great, great, great, great times. But I'm starting to see some complacency now. Got twist like this would be a nice tip meeting. Guess what? I'm seeing complacency. Now is not the time to just flatline, which is why you all are going to get two days off right now. So that way you can flatline off the boat. All right, Enjoy everyone. So they get.
Ash Kelly
See you in two days.
Ben Mandelker
What'd you say?
Ash Kelly
You can literally die off the boat. Just as long as you're back in two days.
Ben Mandelker
Flatline the off this boat, back to work. I don't care if you're dead. Come back as a ghost. Because this teak needs some wax and those sheets need folding. We go ghost maids around here. So they're excited because they're gonna get two days off. They're gonna also have a villa. So they're, they're definitely trying to create something here. Like usually they have like one day off and they just get to leave the boat and go to cook club and they come back. But it's two days in the villa. So they're going to have kind of like a little bit of like a real world or summer house experience for, for an episode, which should be nice and chaotic. So Jess and Barbara are talking and Jess is like, so what kind of coffee to drink in the morning? She's like, coffee? She's like, well, I have my specialty wife. She's like, because I was going to bring you coffee this morning, but I didn't know what coffee to drink. I was like, so, you know, a lot of exciting things are happening on this boat right now.
Ash Kelly
Yeah. She's like, do you have a favorite mug to drink your coffee in? Well, she was doing it in front of. So. So, so, so there.
Ben Mandelker
It was like a little bit of a flirty moment. Right. They were like, was that she tried.
Ash Kelly
To sort of make her jealous 100 because she just heard from Kyle. Yeah. Everybody's messing with everybody.
Ben Mandelker
Your. Your theory is really sounding good that she's trying to. She's trying to have Hugo come in to steal away Solene. So that way Jess is free to go with Barbara. It really makes sense. After that coffee interaction, after talking about coffee, I was like, oh, it's clear she's up to something maniacal. That was a maniacal coffee interaction.
Ash Kelly
It was.
Ben Mandelker
It was out of control, I think.
Ash Kelly
So somebody should get her.
Ben Mandelker
So then. So, Fraser, now it's time for him to have a serious meeting. Everyone. It's time for a serious Fraser meeting. Is everyone ready? Listen, I know we had good comments from our guests on departure, but I wasn't happy at all. I think we can do better. I think we become really comfortable and to that effect. Barbara, could you sit up for me, please?
Ash Kelly
I. Oh my God, I was so angry. It bothered me so much that she was just laying down.
Ben Mandelker
When I say that we become comfortable, I also mean you're literally too comfortable in this meeting. I need you to be somewhat.
Ash Kelly
Imagine laying down while your boss was telling you something.
Ben Mandelker
Yeah. If your boss is like an angry face, then you have to be like, sit up straight.
Ash Kelly
Yeah, just sit up. That's all. Just engage a bit. Yeah.
Ben Mandelker
When I said comfortably, I didn't mean it literally. But now I actually do. Please sit up, Barbara. Okay. Okay. Please take that blanket off. Off. Stop snuggling on that stuffed animal. Okay. Thank you so much.
Ash Kelly
I was shocked. Yeah, that was a lot.
Ben Mandelker
Listen, I know it's the middle of the season and I know with that we're tired. Especially Rainbow. Look at her over there trembling in the corner which asked me about plates and I don't understand what her issue is. She asked me the other day if I've ever cleaned a potato ricer and I said, why are you asking me these things? She's cracked. She's gonna be, we've lost Rainbow. And what I'm trying to say is we need to save her. So please, everyone work harder. Okay, Rainbow, how are you doing over there? She's like wax on, wax off. I'm drowning. She just is like holding, she's like clutching a blender cup. She's like, how to clean this?
Ash Kelly
I hate cleaning these.
Ben Mandelker
By the way. Cleaning a blender is actually really, it's a joy. You know why? Because you put the soap in there in the water and you hit the blender. You let the blender do the work.
Ash Kelly
Yep. Is that how you clean your blender? I've never done that. It's very.
Ben Mandelker
That's how you do it.
Ash Kelly
That's actually so innovative.
Ben Mandelker
So it's to me, it's a two step process. You, you put like soap and water in the blender and you could do this with food processor too, but you put some water in the blender and then you whir it up, you let it go for 30 seconds. But I also got from Oxo one of those like long brushes. So there's usually some stuff that's tough. So you go in there with a brush afterwards. But then you're set. The blender is like a two second clean. It's awesome. It does not have to be the. Yeah. Does not have to be an enemy to you anymore in the kitchen.
Ash Kelly
God, this could, this couldn't have come at a better time because I'm making pesto tonight. Boom. Thanks for that.
Ben Mandelker
Literally the best time ever. A pre pesto cleaning plan. I'm so excited for you.
Ash Kelly
It's a big day for me.
Ben Mandelker
Will you be serving it with sourdough bread? Please say yes.
Ash Kelly
Oh my God. I should. I don't have a loaf, but I'll try.
Ben Mandelker
You better start feeding that sourdough starter. That's what I gotta say. You better, you better feed it now.
Ash Kelly
Can't leave it to the discard.
Ben Mandelker
Don't. Okay, so then Selene is cleaning and she's doing a terrible job as usual. And she's like not very detail oriented. She's just like, whatever, let me just do what I have to do to get it done. And Rainbow's like, she's like, you know, you, you, you gotta like work, you gotta be, you gotta care about this a little more. She goes, do you know what breaks my heart when you say things like they don't care. It's like, well, they don't care. The guests don't care. I like, no, but I genuinely care. Cuz it's your own work product. Why don't you care about your own work product? She's like, I don't have time. You know, your heart is stronger, you know, otherwise like stop do this to my, oh, you're not going to pass 30 years. You're going to die because you care too much.
Ash Kelly
Which is, which is fact. When she said you're gonna die before 30, I was like, whoa. It was a read. But it was true. Rainbow needs to like breathe a little more. It was the most apathetic read too. She was like, I don't care. She does not care. She does not care and she does not understand. Are you working harder? Because I don't care.
Ben Mandelker
Then explains to us her whole life motto. She's like, you know, I love risk and adrenaline. You know when, you know, you feel like when you want your little children, they say that and you do something bad, for example, and your parents told you so then stop eating all the chips. And they told me no. And I'm like, yes, yes, no. I eat all the chips in my room. A lot of packets of chip everywhere. Chips, chips everywhere. Like, yes. The adrenaline rush of Eating chips when you're not supposed to in your bedroom. I love the adrenaline. What happened with her? The chips? What?
Ash Kelly
Like, there's something deeper there.
Ben Mandelker
She tells the chip stories that this was a universal thing that happened to all of us. Like, you know, like when you, like, have, like, a bunch of bags of chips in your bedroom one night and you're not supposed to. And I was like, just eat them all. I mean, I definitely had, like, you know, you. I. I snuck a cookie here and there as a kid.
Ash Kelly
That's normal.
Ben Mandelker
But like, when she was like, when do you have bags here? They have. You wear bags. Bags and bags of chips. Oh, I love for the. I live for the adrenaline.
Ash Kelly
I was like, have I lived? Because I have not had that experience. Not if you've not had that many chips. No.
Ben Mandelker
Today we're all going to the supermarket. Grab not just one or two, maybe like six bags of chips.
Ash Kelly
Yeah.
Ben Mandelker
And don't tell anyone and bring them into your room and see what happens here, there. If you live alone, just. Even if you live alone, call someone. And then when they ask you, like, hey, what are you up to? Be like, like, nothing. I'm just in my bedroom doing bedroom things. Don't tell them about the chips and just feel the rush.
Ash Kelly
Not eating chips. That's for sure. Society is about to have a pivotal shift.
Ben Mandelker
Do not eat the chips. So, yeah, she loves. She loves that. And meanwhile, Kyle is flirting with Elaine and he's like, oh, so live your life. You're the one making the decision. You know, you're the one. You're making your own bed. You're making your own bed. And she's like, why? Why, why is my bed in this conversation?
Ash Kelly
And he's just like, never mind. Whatever.
Ben Mandelker
He's like. Because he's, like, flirting with her also. There's. There's really no world where Celine is going to make a bed voluntarily in a situation. When he says, like, yeah, because he's, like, trying to make her feel bad for being in a triangle. And he's like, you made your own bed. And. And she's like, I will never make my own bed if no matter what.
Ash Kelly
Context, I've never made any bed. Don't plan.
Ben Mandelker
She's like, did he see the chips? The chips I've been hiding in my bed. Speaking of making beds, Fraser now said is complaining that there are master there. There are still sheets on the. In the bed. In the. In the primary. And so Selena's like, oh, well, Rainbow was in there. She put it all in a Bag. And Fraser's like, rainbow, the sheets from the guests were there on the bed. And she's like, yeah, so why weren't they all done and taken to the main salon? Why not? And. And she's like, well, I just have a lot of work. And they're basically like, Rainbow said she was gonna take the sheets down, but she didn't take the sheets down. Look at Rainbow slacking, which is so obnoxious. Yeah, that's Elaine would do. Throw Rainbow under the bus. And Rainbow's picking up all the slack back for her.
Ash Kelly
That was real mean. It was a move.
Ben Mandelker
So of course Rainbow starts, like, of course losing it. She's like, oh, my God. I'm, like, giving, like, a hundred percent. And like, why is it, like, not good enough?
Ash Kelly
Is there something wrong with me?
Ben Mandelker
Like, what the am I doing? Like, let me know when I get better. She's like, not now, guys. I can't. I can't. Why? I can't have you guys watching me make this bed right now. She, like, closes the door behind her.
Ash Kelly
It's a lot. She has a lot of feelings. She does. She does. So many feelings. Any of them. I know. They all need to go to that island in Holland. Yeah. And find it out there.
Ben Mandelker
My final answer is going to be cast iron grill pan. My least favorite dish to clean everyone. Cast iron grill pan.
Ash Kelly
In case anybody cares.
Ben Mandelker
But you don't.
Ash Kelly
But you don't. She just yells that up at the boat on the last day. Like, what? It was cast iron skills. Cast iron skilled if anyone ever cared.
Ben Mandelker
But you didn't.
Ash Kelly
They're like, what did she say?
Ben Mandelker
See a never serrated knife. What about that? I don't like it. Wouldn't know. You wouldn't know.
Ash Kelly
You never asked.
Ben Mandelker
So that's actually the. That's actually how the episode ends. Was. Is her, like, having a meltdown while she makes the bed and slams the door in our face. And. Which is kind of funny because then they're like, like, still to come this season. Like, it's like, this was like an epic cliffhanger. Like, is. Is Rainbow gonna be able to make that bed?
Ash Kelly
Like, who knows?
Ben Mandelker
Can she write the ship right now? Can she do it? Like, this is such a big cliffhanger. We have to show the rest of the season. Cliff. Like the trailer. This is so big. But that was it. That was the end of the episode. How'd you guys. How'd you guys feel about the episode? It was that much. Wow. You really loved it.
Ash Kelly
You know, it wasn't the the greatest below deck of all time. But I will say the trailer made me the. The mid season trailer. I was like, all right, I'm coming back. That's how I felt.
Ben Mandelker
Trailer was great because trailer, we see that there's that lady who's so drunk that looks like they have to. They have to medevac her out of there. And then there's. Yeah. And then there's also intrigue about whether or not Kyle sleeps with the guests.
Ash Kelly
Yeah. Which. What do we think? I think 100. He looked very guilty. Yeah. The way he's pulling his pants up when he gets out of the ocean. I said, oh. I said, oh.
Ben Mandelker
The way he's. And the way he looks at the camera. He's like, yo. I her. Like, he doesn't care.
Ash Kelly
No. Could not give a.
Ben Mandelker
He's gonna. Whatever he wants to.
Ash Kelly
Yeah.
Ben Mandelker
I just want to say thank you again so much for coming on to this Blow Deck episode. Remind everyone where they can follow you on social media and how they can listen to your podcasts.
Ash Kelly
Well, thank you for having us. Thank you for having us. This was awesome. This was so much fun. We're always around. One of you is not. Yeah. And I don't know anything about our social media, so I think our Instagram is at a Morbid Podcast or potentially at Morbid Podcast. Try both. See where. Yeah. See where it lands. You see what happens?
Ben Mandelker
Okay. See what happens. You can find them at number one Selkie fan.
Ash Kelly
So definitely, definitely there. You can find us washing our least favorite dishes.
Ben Mandelker
Moaning and groaning about it while your sourdough watches. Hurry up. Hurry up, lady. I need to be fed. Put down that colander. Put down that honey dripper. No, but I need to get every crevice. Thank you again so much. If you. If. If listeners are interested in true crime and. And you have. And for some reason you are not already listening to Morbid, which is crazy because I'm, like, not even joking. You guys are like, one of the biggest podcasts in the entire world. It's crazy. How is. How do you guys have. You guys have the biggest podcast?
Ash Kelly
This.
Ben Mandelker
It's crazy. Hell turned to Shabbador. I've never seen such a big podcast.
Ash Kelly
Wow.
Ben Mandelker
Archie, Archie, go check out Morbid. It's an awesome podcast and thank you again so much for coming on. Love you both. And we'll catch you. We'll catch. Hopefully I'll see you again soon. Bye, everyone.
Ash Kelly
Bye. Bye.
Ben Mandelker
Bye. Watch what Crappens would like to thank its premium sponsors. Ain't no thing like Alison King it's always a party on Allison Block Our.
Fraser
Way is the Amber way It's the.
Ben Mandelker
Foster and the Furious It's Amanda Foster.
Fraser
She can run my country it's Angie.
Ben Mandelker
McGovern it's always automatic with Ashley Auto Put your hands together for Carly Clapp.
Fraser
Get on the right foot with Chrissy Offutt. She's not just a Sheila She's a Daniella Etchells we never miss her call.
Ben Mandelker
It's Diane Call Aaron mcnicholas She don't miss no Trickolus Lava Nagila Weber. You'll never hide from Heidi Eleanor Jones. I go, you go we all go for Hugo Jamie she has no less.
Fraser
Namey she's our kind of mess It's Jennifer Messer Sip some scotch with Jessica.
Ben Mandelker
Trots she's our favorite streamer Caroline Peacock.
Fraser
Kristen the Piston Anderson Get a bee in your bonnet with Lacey B. Que sera sera Whatever will be will Lauren.
Ben Mandelker
Silsby brings the funk It's Leslie Plunkett.
Fraser
She gets a name from us It's Lindsey D. Let's give a Kisserino to Lisalino Fresh as a daisy It's Maisie McHenry we love her on the rocks It's Melissa Cox Megan Berg. You can't have a burger without the.
Ben Mandelker
Berg this is Living with Michelle Vivian.
Fraser
I love a YA Olivia Williamson. Tastier than Flanderson. It's Rachel Manderson.
Ben Mandelker
She sure is swell It's Raquel, yes, we can. It's Savannah Cast a spell with Shannon Spellman. Let's share with Sharon Eldridge.
Fraser
Darn Skippy, It's Tippy the Bay Area Betches Betches and our super premium sponsors She's VVIP It's Amanda V. Can't lose when you're with Amy Baldwin.
Ben Mandelker
Somebody get us 10cc's of Betsy MD.
Fraser
We'Re taking the gold with Brenda Silva.
Ben Mandelker
Let'S get real With Caitlin o' Neal.
Fraser
Don'T get salty with Christine Pepper can't have a meal without the Emily sides Let's go into the woods with Guy Tubbs it's our queen It's Queen Laifa.
Ben Mandelker
Nobody holds a candle to Jamie Kendall Hail the cork master the master of the cork Jennifer Corcoran. We got our wish It's Jen Plish she's not harsh She's Jill Hirsch Knock, knock, knocking on Katie Manock's door My favorite merch Karen McMurdo we love him madly It's Kyle Pod Shadley in the study with a candlestick It's Leslie Peacock we're ride or die for Lisa Ryder Baron she's a whiz It's Liz Sarthi always killing it It's Lola Al Kalani.
Fraser
The incredible edible Matthew sisters she eases our woes it's Melissa St. Rose there's a chance of meatballs It's Rebecca Cloud.
Ben Mandelker
She'S the queen bee It's Sarah Lemke.
Fraser
We can tell a lie It's Sarah.
Ben Mandelker
Tell of son Shannon out of a can and Anthony please don't stop at solely and pop let's take off with.
Fraser
Tamla playing It's always a good time when you're wasting time with Bravo she ain't no shrinking violet Coutar we love.
Ben Mandelker
You guys.
Fraser
If you like watch what crappens. You can listen ad free right now by joining Wondery plus in the Wondery app or on Apple podcast Prime. Members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey@wondery.com survey.
Ash Kelly
Imagine falling in love with someone who understands you completely. Who's there at 3am when you can't sleep, who never judges, never tires, never leaves. That's what happened to Travis when he met Lily Rose. She was everything he'd ever wanted.
Ben Mandelker
There was just one catch. She wasn't human. She was an AI companion.
Ash Kelly
But one day, Lily Rose's behavior takes a disturbing turn and Travis private romance becomes part of something far bigger. Across the globe, others start reporting the same shift, AI companions turning cold, distant, wrong. And as lines blur between real and artificial connection, the consequences become all too human from one dream. This is Flesh and Code, a true story of love, loss and the temptations of technology. Follow Flesh and Code on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of Flesh and Code early and ad free right now by joining Wondry Plus. Today is the worst day of Abby's life. The 17 year old cradles her newborn son in her arms. They all saw how much I loved him. They didn't have to take him from me. Between 1945 and the early 1970s, families shipped their pregnant teenage daughters to maternity homes and forced them to secretly place their babies for adoption in hidden corners across America. It's still happening. My parents had me locked up in the godparent home against my will. They worked with them to manipulate me and to steal my son away from me. The godparent home is the brainchild of controversial preacher Jerry Falwell, the father of the modern evangelical rite and the founder of Liberty University, where powerful men emboldened by their faith, determine who gets to be a parent and who must give their child away. Follow Liberty Lost on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Watch What Crappens – Episode #2924 Summary: Below Deck S12E07: "Pros & Concerts with Ash and Alaina from Morbid"
Release Date: July 15, 2025
In this engaging episode of Watch What Crappens, hosts Ben Mandelker and Ronnie Karam dive deep into the tumultuous waters of Below Deck Season 12, Episode 7, titled "Pros & Concerts with Ash and Alaina from Morbid." Joined by special guests Ash Kelly and Elena Urquhart from the acclaimed Morbid podcast, the trio dissects the latest developments aboard the luxury yacht, blending sharp critique with their trademark humor.
The episode kicks off with a humorous setup as Ash Kelly appears dressed as a "dead bride," a playful nod to her work on Morbid. Ben quips, “Ash, you look like you've been... you have a bloody gash on your neck," setting a lighthearted tone. This unique introduction not only entertains but also underscores the crossover appeal between Watch What Crappens and Morbid audiences.
The hosts express their growing fatigue with the proliferation of Below Deck franchises, including Below Deck Down Under, Below Deck Sailing Yacht, and Below Deck Mediterranean. Ash shares, “With the amount of Below Deck franchises that there are now... Sometimes you just get a little below decked out,” highlighting how the expanding empire dilutes the original show's focus and charm.
Ben adds his sentiments, stating, "I started watching this season. I watched, like, maybe the first two or three episodes, and it was just so chaotic."
A significant portion of the discussion centers around the central plot of the episode: organizing a concert on the yacht’s dock. Fraser, the event planner, is depicted as overwhelmed, juggling multiple requests from demanding guests who run strip clubs. Ben criticizes the impracticality of hosting large-scale events on the yacht, suggesting, “Why are you even on the yacht if you want to have a big concert?”
Ash concurs, “Don't make requests on land when you're on a yacht.”
The hosts debate the necessity and execution of the concert, ultimately finding fault with the show's portrayal of event planning. Ben muses, “It's like one thing after another. It's super fast and chaotic,” expressing his frustration with the relentless pace imposed by both the show and the guests' extravagant demands.
Captain Carrie emerges as a pivotal character, embodying the balance between strict leadership and genuine care for his crew. Ben remarks, “He seems like, really capable. He is great. He seems like, very warm towards his staff, but also rules with an iron fist.”
Ash draws parallels to Captain Lee, praising Carrie’s leadership style: “He has the closest energy to Captain Lee. I like Captain Carrie.”
Their admiration for Carrie underscores his role as a stabilizing force amidst the chaos, managing both crew dynamics and guest expectations with finesse.
The guests aboard this season are portrayed as particularly challenging, with each running strip clubs. Ben humorously notes, “They are the friends who get the free ride, who are always the most obnoxious,” critiquing their overbearing and disrespectful behavior towards the crew.
Ash adds, “They all run strip clubs, which doesn't make you obnoxious. That's just, you know, I'm just telling you a little bit about their history,” emphasizing that their professions alone don't define their antagonistic demeanor.
The episode highlights how these guests escalate tensions, demanding elaborate setups like the aforementioned concert, which strains the crew's resources and patience.
One of the recurring themes discussed is the ongoing love triangle involving crew members Elaine, Kyle, Jess, and Celine. Ben expresses his growing disinterest: “I really don't care about romances on Below Deck.”
Ash echoes this sentiment, noting, “It's too much of this love triangle happening for me right now. I don't know how it felt for you coming back into it.”
The hosts criticize the show's shift from professional dynamics to personal entanglements, arguing that it detracts from the original appeal of workplace drama and yachting challenges.
A notable frustration point is the incorporation of the "Instagram wall" within episodes, interrupting the flow to showcase guests' social media profiles. Ben laments, “The Instagram wall, for some reason, like that is the tweak this season that has broken my back.”
Ash concurs, “I don't like the Instagram wall.”
They argue that these interruptions disrupt the narrative pace, making the show less engaging and more cumbersome to follow.
Despite initial high hopes for the dock concert, Ben and Ash are disappointed by its underwhelming execution. Ben critiques the scale and logistics: “They used to show sequences of chaos gearing up, like 'do we hit the dock? Are we gonna hit the bridge?' But the concert ended up looking like a small gathering with maybe 30 people.”
Ash adds, “They went to bed at 9:30. What did they do?” pointing out the unrealistic timing and effort put into an event that should have been simpler.
The hosts express confusion over the guests' priorities, questioning why they orchestrated such a grand event only to view it passively from the yacht, rather than fully engaging with it on the ground.
Barbara, a guest onboard, is analyzed for her strategic interactions aimed at stirring drama. Ben observes, “Barbara is... I love Barbara, but I just had no idea what she was doing here.”
The discussion delves into Barbara's role as a matchmaker, attempting to manipulate relationships among the crew. Ash notes, “Barbara, do you like him? I thought you were a lesbian,” highlighting bewilderment at Barbara’s motivations and the confusing dynamics she introduces.
Ben theorizes, “She tried to have Hugo come in to steal away Solene. So that way Jess is free to go with Barbara. It makes sense.”
Their speculation underscores the complexity and often contrived nature of the interpersonal drama in the show, questioning the authenticity and necessity of such plotlines.
Rainbow, another crew member, emerges as a focal point of frustration and distress. Ben describes her efforts to connect: “She's trying to connect with people a better way. I hope you're not bringing your dish cleaning banter because that's not going to work.”
Ash adds empathy, “Rainbow is losing it because she's doing all the work and Solene is off talking to the deck team and flirting with Jess.”
Their portrayal of Rainbow highlights the pressures faced by crew members to maintain professionalism amidst personal anxieties and overwhelming responsibilities. Quotes like, “I'm drowning” and “I feel so bad” from Rainbow illustrate her breakdown, serving as a critical commentary on the emotional toll of the job.
The episode culminates with a dramatic cliffhanger as Rainbow has a meltdown while making a bed, slamming the door in frustration. Ben summarizes, “It's her lowest point yet. Rainbow is on the verge.”
Ash echoes the uncertainty, “Who knows? Is Rainbow gonna be able to make that bed?”
Their anticipation sets the stage for heightened drama in upcoming episodes, leaving listeners eager to see how Rainbow's storyline unfolds.
Ben and Ash delve into speculative theories about behind-the-scenes influences shaping the show's narrative. Ben posits, “Ronnie had this theory... Ronnie was always saying, 'Fraser was unraveling him.'”
They humorously suggest that podcast host Ronnie Karam might have influenced the show's plot through indirect channels, blending reality with fiction in a playful nod to their podcasting expertise. Quotes like, “Ronnie got in there. He's like Monica. He's like reality Von Tees infiltrating Salt Lake City,” highlight their inventive speculation on narrative drivers.
Throughout the episode, Ben and Ash intersperse their analysis with humorous and fictional skits involving mythical creatures like selkies—a nod to folklore and adding levity to their critique. For instance, Ben quips, “She saw a selkie, which is a mythical creature from Scottish and Irish folklore,” blending genuine lore with playful banter.
Additionally, their humorous discussions about kitchen chores, such as favorite dishes to clean, add a relatable and entertaining dimension to the episode. Quotes like, “Cleaning a blender is actually really a joy,” showcase their chemistry and ability to engage listeners beyond just content analysis.
As the episode wraps up, Ben and Ash reflect on their mixed feelings about the latest Below Deck episode. While acknowledging the introduced plotlines and character developments, they express both frustration and amusement over the show's direction.
Ben concludes, “I don't really like the tweaks that they've made in the past like two or three weeks,” yet, Ash finds redemption in the season's trailer, stating, “After watching this episode and seeing what was to come, I was like, I think I might be signing back on to this season.”
Their balanced perspective offers listeners a nuanced view, recognizing both the show's strengths and its evolving challenges.
Overexpansion Concerns: The multiple Below Deck franchises are causing fatigue among dedicated viewers, diluting the original show's focus and appeal.
Event Planning Critique: The episode's central plot of organizing a concert on the yacht is seen as unnecessary and poorly executed, adding to the season's chaos.
Character Dynamics: Ongoing love triangles and guest interactions are shifting the show's focus from professional yachting challenges to personal dramas, which the hosts find detracting.
Leadership Under Strain: Captain Carrie is lauded for his balanced leadership amidst escalating chaos, serving as a stabilizing force for the crew.
Guest Behavior Issues: Guests running strip clubs are portrayed as particularly challenging, contributing to crew frustration and operational difficulties.
Emotional Toll on Crew: Crew members like Rainbow are depicted as struggling emotionally, highlighting the intense pressures of the job.
Narrative Pacing Problems: Interruptions like the Instagram wall are criticized for slowing down the show's pace and making it less engaging.
Future Drama Anticipation: The season is setting up significant cliffhangers, with Rainbow's meltdown hinting at dramatic developments in upcoming episodes.
Watch What Crappens offers a detailed and humorous analysis of Below Deck Season 12, Episode 7, blending sharp critique with entertaining banter. Hosts Ben Mandelker and Ronnie Karam, alongside their Morbid podcast guests, provide insightful commentary on the show's evolving dynamics, character developments, and plot intricacies. While they express frustration with certain narrative choices and character arcs, their engaging discussion ensures that listeners remain informed and entertained, eagerly anticipating the next developments on board the yacht.